MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Shares Bought by First Foundation Advisors

First Foundation Advisors boosted its stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 12.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,493 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 852 shares during the period. First Foundation Advisors' holdings in MSCI were worth $4,496,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSCI. LRI Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of MSCI by 120.0% during the third 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 last quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA acquired a new position in MSCI in the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd increased its stake in MSCI by 122.7% in the 4th quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 98 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the period. Picton Mahoney Asset Management purchased a new position in MSCI during the 4th quarter worth $60,000. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA lifted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 36 shares during the period. 89.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company cut 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, April 9th. Bank of America started coverage on MSCI in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $585.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $675.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised MSCI from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price 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 given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, MSCI presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $646.58.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 5,300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $574.51 per share, with a total value of $3,044,903.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,269,951 shares of the company's stock, valued at $729,599,549.01. This trade represents a 0.42 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 3.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

MSCI Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of MSCI stock traded up $7.19 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $558.44. 136,518 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 578,742. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $561.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $586.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.30. MSCI Inc. has a twelve month low of $439.95 and a twelve month high of $642.45.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 period in the previous year, the company posted $3.68 earnings per share. 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $1.80 dividend. This is a positive change from MSCI's previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. MSCI's dividend payout ratio is presently 51.21%.

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.