Headlands Technologies LLC Grows Stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Headlands Technologies LLC raised its holdings in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 63.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,479 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,513 shares during the quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC's holdings in MSCI were worth $3,887,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MSCI. LRI Investments LLC grew its stake in MSCI by 120.0% in the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 44 shares of the technology company's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI in the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA bought a new position in MSCI in the fourth quarter worth approximately $41,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. Finally, Picton Mahoney Asset Management bought a new stake in MSCI during the 4th quarter valued at $60,000. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 5,300 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $574.51 per share, with a total value 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. This trade represents a 0.42 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 3.31% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on MSCI shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded MSCI from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the company from $617.00 to $723.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $675.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $649.23.

MSCI Stock Performance

NYSE MSCI traded down $32.04 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $543.92. The stock had a trading volume of 631,673 shares, compared to its average volume of 556,745. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $576.12 and a 200 day moving average of $588.91. The stock has a market cap of $42.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.19. MSCI Inc. has a 52-week low of $439.95 and a 52-week high of $642.45.

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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.68 EPS. On average, 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. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $1.80 dividend. This is a boost from MSCI's previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. MSCI's payout ratio is currently 51.21%.

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.