Edgewood Management LLC Sells 163,205 Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Edgewood Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 7.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,032,434 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 163,205 shares during the period. MSCI accounts for approximately 3.5% of Edgewood Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Edgewood Management LLC owned 2.59% of MSCI worth $1,219,481,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CWA Asset Management Group LLC grew its stake in MSCI by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 418 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $251,000 after buying an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of MSCI by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 492 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $295,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of MSCI by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 2,044 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,227,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the period. Perigon Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in MSCI by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 575 shares of the technology company's stock worth $351,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC boosted its stake in MSCI by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC now owns 3,325 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,995,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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MSCI Stock Up 2.0 %

MSCI stock traded up $10.65 during trading on Friday, reaching $538.42. The company's stock had a trading volume of 197,457 shares, compared to its average volume of 567,516. The company's fifty day moving average is $563.00 and its 200-day moving average is $586.85. MSCI Inc. has a 1 year low of $439.95 and a 1 year high of $642.45. The company has a market capitalization of $41.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.30.

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 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 company posted $3.68 EPS. Analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $1.80 per share. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from MSCI's previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. MSCI's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.21%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MSCI news, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction on Friday, April 4th. The shares were 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 directly owns 294,787 shares of the company's stock, valued at $154,542,084.75. This trade represents a 1.67 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 5,300 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $574.51 per share, for a total transaction of $3,044,903.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 1,269,951 shares in the company, valued at approximately $729,599,549.01. The trade was a 0.42 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 3.31% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on MSCI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of MSCI from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Wolfe Research raised MSCI from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on MSCI from $623.00 to $532.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, MSCI currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $646.58.

MSCI 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.