DRW Securities LLC Takes $396,000 Position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

DRW Securities LLC acquired a new stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 660 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $396,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. LRI Investments LLC boosted its stake in MSCI by 120.0% in the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 44 shares of the technology company's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA bought a new position in shares of MSCI in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd grew its stake in MSCI by 122.7% during the fourth quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 98 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management bought a new stake in MSCI during the 4th quarter worth approximately $60,000. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA lifted its stake in MSCI by 46.8% in the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 113 shares of the technology company's stock worth $68,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised MSCI from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $617.00 to $723.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Bank of America began coverage on MSCI in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $585.00 price target on the stock. Barclays cut their price objective on MSCI from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $675.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $646.58.

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Insider Buying and Selling at MSCI

In other MSCI news, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $524.25, for a total transaction of $2,621,250.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 294,787 shares in the company, valued at approximately $154,542,084.75. This trade represents a 1.67 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 5,300 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $574.51 per share, with a total value of $3,044,903.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,269,951 shares in the company, valued at $729,599,549.01. This represents a 0.42 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 3.31% of the company's stock.

MSCI Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of MSCI stock traded up $5.28 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $556.53. The company's stock had a trading volume of 209,598 shares, compared to its average volume of 568,831. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $561.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $586.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.30. MSCI Inc. has a one year low of $439.95 and a one year high of $642.45.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.68 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $1.80 dividend. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.29%. 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%.

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.