MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Shares Bought by Jump Financial LLC

Jump Financial LLC lifted its holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 83.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,328 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 6,952 shares during the period. Jump Financial LLC's holdings in MSCI were worth $9,197,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in MSCI in the fourth quarter worth $609,937,000. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its stake in MSCI by 16,353.6% in the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 587,557 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $352,539,000 after acquiring an additional 583,986 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in MSCI by 169.4% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 507,413 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $304,453,000 after purchasing an additional 319,083 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in MSCI during the fourth quarter worth about $185,003,000. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of MSCI in the fourth quarter worth about $126,082,000. 89.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 5,300 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,269,951 shares in the company, valued at approximately $729,599,549.01. This represents a 0.42 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 3.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSCI has been the topic of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $675.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on MSCI from $532.00 to $530.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Barclays cut their target price on MSCI from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Bank of America assumed coverage on MSCI in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $585.00 price target on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of MSCI from $680.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $643.92.

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of MSCI stock traded down $11.03 on Monday, hitting $535.86. 199,912 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 564,403. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.61 billion, a PE ratio of 38.11, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.30. MSCI Inc. has a 1 year low of $439.95 and a 1 year high of $642.45. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $558.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $585.67.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 earnings per share (EPS) 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 previous year, the company earned $3.68 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $1.80 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from MSCI's previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.34%. MSCI's dividend payout ratio is 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.