MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Shares Sold by Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C.

Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. reduced its position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 6.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 69,500 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 4,600 shares during the quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. owned 0.09% of MSCI worth $41,701,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSCI has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays decreased their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on MSCI from $680.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $675.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on MSCI from $673.00 to $631.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. 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 analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $645.36.

MSCI Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:MSCI traded up $5.06 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $535.66. The company's stock had a trading volume of 504,498 shares, compared to its average volume of 543,947. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $555.04 and a 200 day moving average of $583.54. MSCI Inc. has a twelve month low of $458.69 and a twelve month high of $642.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.60 billion, a PE ratio of 38.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.30.

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

MSCI Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 5,300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 acquisition, the chief executive officer now 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 294,787 shares in the company, valued at approximately $154,542,084.75. This represents 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.

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.