Cd Baer Pettit Sells 5,000 Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Stock

MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 294,787 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $154,542,084.75. This trade represents a 1.67 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of MSCI stock traded up $14.49 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $542.26. The company had a trading volume of 464,559 shares, compared to its average volume of 569,462. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $562.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $586.71. MSCI Inc. has a one year low of $439.95 and a one year high of $642.45. The firm has a market cap of $42.11 billion, a PE ratio of 38.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.30.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.96 by $0.22. MSCI had a net margin of 38.83% and a negative return on equity of 156.08%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.68 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 EPS for the current year.

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MSCI Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $1.80 per share. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from MSCI's previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. MSCI's dividend payout ratio is 51.21%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of MSCI in a research note on Thursday. They set a "neutral" rating and a $585.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $675.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on MSCI from $623.00 to $532.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded MSCI from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the company from $617.00 to $723.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, MSCI currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $646.58.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MSCI. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of MSCI in the 4th quarter worth approximately $609,937,000. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its position in MSCI by 16,353.6% in the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 587,557 shares of the technology company's stock worth $352,539,000 after acquiring an additional 583,986 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in MSCI by 61,179.6% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 505,557 shares of the technology company's stock worth $285,892,000 after acquiring an additional 504,732 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of MSCI by 3,881.3% during the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 419,429 shares of the technology company's stock worth $251,662,000 after acquiring an additional 408,894 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in shares of MSCI by 169.4% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 507,413 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $304,453,000 after acquiring an additional 319,083 shares during the period. 89.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MSCI Company Profile

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.