MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Shares Sold by CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co

CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co decreased its holdings in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 5.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 48,916 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 2,622 shares during the quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co owned about 0.06% of MSCI worth $29,336,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in MSCI by 30.9% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 174,982 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $104,991,000 after acquiring an additional 41,346 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of MSCI by 4.5% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 536,211 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $312,574,000 after purchasing an additional 23,050 shares in the last quarter. Nvwm LLC increased its holdings in shares of MSCI by 3,581.3% in the fourth quarter. Nvwm LLC now owns 1,767 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,060,000 after purchasing an additional 1,719 shares during the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its position in MSCI by 76.3% during the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 2,992 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,795,000 after buying an additional 1,295 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Threadgill Financial LLC boosted its stake in MSCI by 255.4% during the fourth quarter. Threadgill Financial LLC now owns 1,283 shares of the technology company's stock worth $770,000 after buying an additional 922 shares during the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MSCI traded down $3.28 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $530.13. The stock had a trading volume of 689,625 shares, compared to its average volume of 556,490. MSCI Inc. has a 1 year low of $449.00 and a 1 year high of $642.45. The firm's 50 day moving average is $556.63 and its 200-day moving average is $584.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.30.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The technology company reported $4.00 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.88 by $0.12. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 156.08% and a net margin of 38.83%. The firm had revenue of $745.83 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $746.45 million. Analysts forecast that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $1.80 per share. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.36%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. MSCI's payout ratio is 51.21%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on MSCI from $532.00 to $530.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of MSCI from $673.00 to $631.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays cut their target price on MSCI from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Bank of America started coverage on MSCI in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $585.00 price objective for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of MSCI from $680.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, MSCI has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $639.00.

Insider Activity at MSCI

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 5,300 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was bought at an average price of $574.51 per share, for a total transaction of $3,044,903.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,269,951 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $729,599,549.01. The trade was a 0.42 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $524.25, for a total value of $2,621,250.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 294,787 shares in the company, valued at approximately $154,542,084.75. The trade was a 1.67 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About MSCI

MSCI Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides critical decision support tools and solutions for the investment community to manage investment processes worldwide. The Index segment provides indexes for use in various areas of the investment process, including indexed financial product, such as ETFs, mutual funds, annuities, futures, options, structured products, and over-the-counter derivatives; performance benchmarking; portfolio construction and rebalancing; and asset allocation, as well as licenses GICS and GICS Direct.