MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Shares Sold by Bristol Gate Capital Partners Inc.

Bristol Gate Capital Partners Inc. lowered its stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 0.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 187,211 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 1,519 shares during the quarter. MSCI accounts for 5.5% of Bristol Gate Capital Partners Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Bristol Gate Capital Partners Inc. owned about 0.24% of MSCI worth $112,328,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. LRI Investments LLC raised its position in MSCI by 120.0% in the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 44 shares of the technology company's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the period. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA bought a new position in MSCI in the 4th quarter worth $41,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd lifted its position in MSCI by 122.7% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management bought a new stake in MSCI during the fourth quarter valued at about $60,000. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA increased its position in MSCI by 46.8% in the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 113 shares of the technology company's stock worth $68,000 after buying an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company's stock.

MSCI Stock Performance

MSCI stock traded up $14.49 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $542.26. The company's stock had a trading volume of 464,559 shares, compared to its average volume of 569,462. The company has a 50 day moving average of $562.15 and a 200-day moving average of $586.71. MSCI Inc. has a one year low of $439.95 and a one year high of $642.45. The stock has a market cap of $42.11 billion, a PE ratio of 38.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.30.

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MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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, equities research analysts forecast that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $1.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 dividend yield of 1.33%. MSCI's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.21%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America began coverage on shares of MSCI in a report on Thursday. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $585.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of MSCI from $623.00 to $532.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $675.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a report on Thursday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded MSCI from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $617.00 to $723.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $646.58.

Insider Activity at MSCI

In other news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 5,300 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, 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 purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of the company's 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 294,787 shares in the company, valued at approximately $154,542,084.75. The trade was a 1.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.