Bank of Montreal Can Sells 5,636 Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Bank of Montreal Can lessened its holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 4.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 126,586 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 5,636 shares during the quarter. Bank of Montreal Can owned approximately 0.16% of MSCI worth $75,953,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. LRI Investments LLC grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA bought a new stake in MSCI during the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd boosted 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 bought a new position in shares of MSCI in the fourth quarter worth $60,000. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA increased its holdings 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 valued at $68,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the period. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MSCI traded up $9.16 during trading on Monday, hitting $550.86. 49,072 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 567,950. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $562.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $586.85. The company has a market capitalization of $42.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.18, a price-to-earnings-growth 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.

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MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.96 by $0.22. MSCI had a net margin of 38.83% and a negative return on equity of 156.08%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.68 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 earnings per share 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 issued a dividend of $1.80 per share. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.31%. This is an increase from MSCI's previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. MSCI's payout ratio is presently 51.21%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MSCI. Bank of America began coverage on shares of MSCI in a research report on Thursday. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $585.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $675.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays lowered their price target on MSCI from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on MSCI from $623.00 to $532.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $646.58.

Insider Activity

In other MSCI news, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of MSCI 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 in the company, valued at approximately $154,542,084.75. The trade was a 1.67 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 5,300 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $574.51 per share, for a total transaction of $3,044,903.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,269,951 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $729,599,549.01. The trade was a 0.42 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate 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.