Cerity Partners LLC Purchases 2,116 Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Cerity Partners LLC raised its holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 12.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 19,445 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 2,116 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC's holdings in MSCI were worth $11,529,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. LRI Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of MSCI by 120.0% in the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 44 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA acquired a new stake in MSCI during the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd lifted its position in MSCI by 122.7% during the 4th quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 98 shares of the technology company's stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the period. Picton Mahoney Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of MSCI in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $60,000. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA raised its stake in shares of MSCI by 46.8% during the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 113 shares of the technology company's stock worth $68,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MSCI Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of MSCI stock traded up $6.92 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $558.17. 181,666 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 568,172. MSCI Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $439.95 and a fifty-two week high of $642.45. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $561.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $586.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.30.

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MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.96 by $0.22. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 156.08% and a net margin of 38.83%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.68 earnings per share. Analysts predict that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current 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 given a dividend of $1.80 per share. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from MSCI's previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. MSCI's dividend payout ratio is 51.21%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on MSCI. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of MSCI from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $617.00 to $723.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of MSCI from $623.00 to $532.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Bank of America initiated coverage on MSCI in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $585.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $675.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on MSCI from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MSCI currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $646.58.

Insider Buying and Selling at MSCI

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 5,300 shares of the company's 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 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. This represents a 0.42 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.