Voya Investment Management LLC Raises Position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Voya Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 362.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 201,923 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 158,295 shares during the period. Voya Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.26% of MSCI worth $121,084,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in MSCI in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $609,937,000. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of MSCI by 16,353.6% during the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 587,557 shares of the technology company's stock worth $352,539,000 after purchasing an additional 583,986 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased 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 worth $304,453,000 after purchasing an additional 319,083 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI during the 4th quarter worth about $185,003,000. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in MSCI in the 4th quarter valued at about $126,082,000. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MSCI Stock Up 0.1 %

MSCI stock traded up $0.43 during trading on Monday, hitting $535.79. The company had a trading volume of 433,214 shares, compared to its average volume of 543,504. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $555.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $583.54. MSCI Inc. has a 1-year low of $458.69 and a 1-year high of $642.45. The firm has a market cap of $41.61 billion, a PE ratio of 38.11, 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 data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The technology company reported $4.00 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.88 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $745.83 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $746.45 million. MSCI had a net margin of 38.83% and a negative return on equity of 156.08%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a $1.80 dividend. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.34%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. MSCI's payout ratio is 49.48%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MSCI news, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 294,787 shares in the company, valued at approximately $154,542,084.75. The trade was a 1.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 5,300 shares of the 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 transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 3.31% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MSCI. Bank of America began coverage on shares of MSCI in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $585.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on MSCI from $680.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Barclays cut their price objective on MSCI from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of MSCI from $532.00 to $530.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of MSCI from $673.00 to $631.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MSCI has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $645.36.

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.