Legal & General Group Plc Trims Stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Legal & General Group Plc lessened its holdings in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 14.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 531,159 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 88,766 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.68% of MSCI worth $318,701,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. LRI Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of MSCI by 120.0% during the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 44 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA bought a new position in shares of MSCI during the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd grew its stake in MSCI by 122.7% in the 4th quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 98 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. Picton Mahoney Asset Management bought a new position in MSCI during the fourth quarter valued at about $60,000. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA raised its holdings in shares of MSCI by 46.8% in the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 113 shares of the technology company's stock worth $68,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at MSCI

In other news, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 294,787 shares in the company, valued at approximately $154,542,084.75. This represents a 1.67 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 5,300 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was bought at an average price of $574.51 per share, with a total value of $3,044,903.00. Following 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 position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 3.31% of the company's stock.

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MSCI Trading Up 1.7 %

NYSE MSCI traded up $9.16 on Monday, hitting $550.86. 49,072 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 567,950. The business's 50 day moving average price is $562.15 and its 200-day moving average price is $586.85. The company has a market capitalization of $42.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.30. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 period last year, the firm posted $3.68 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $1.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.31%. This is a boost from MSCI's previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. MSCI's payout ratio is presently 51.21%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of MSCI from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of MSCI from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $617.00 to $723.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Bank of America began coverage on shares of MSCI in a report on Thursday. They set a "neutral" rating and a $585.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on MSCI from $623.00 to $532.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, MSCI has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $646.58.

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.