MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Shares Bought by Hsbc Holdings PLC

Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its holdings in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 21.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 226,663 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 40,246 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC owned about 0.29% of MSCI worth $136,038,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA acquired a new stake in MSCI in the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd increased its stake in shares of MSCI by 122.7% during the fourth quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 98 shares of the technology company's stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the period. Picton Mahoney Asset Management acquired a new stake in MSCI in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $60,000. Private Trust Co. NA lifted its stake in MSCI by 46.8% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in MSCI by 21.9% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 117 shares of the technology company's stock worth $70,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 5,300 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $574.51 per share, for a total transaction of $3,044,903.00. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 294,787 shares of the company's stock, valued at $154,542,084.75. The trade was a 1.67 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 3.31% of the company's stock.

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of MSCI opened at $539.00 on Wednesday. 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 simple moving average of $557.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $584.95. The company has a market capitalization of $41.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.30.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The technology company reported $4.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.88 by $0.12. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 156.08% and a net margin of 38.83%. The company had revenue of $745.83 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $746.45 million. Equities research analysts forecast that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $1.80 dividend. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.34%. 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 (DPR) is 51.21%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of MSCI from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $675.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Bank of America initiated coverage on MSCI in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $585.00 target price on the stock. 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 report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of MSCI from $532.00 to $530.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, MSCI presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $643.92.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.