New York State Common Retirement Fund Has $33.46 Million Holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

New York State Common Retirement Fund lowered its stake in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 6.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 55,761 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 3,953 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned 0.07% of MSCI worth $33,457,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of MSCI. LRI Investments LLC increased its holdings in MSCI by 120.0% in the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 44 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new position in shares of MSCI during the third quarter worth about $38,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of MSCI during the third quarter worth about $40,000. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA purchased a new position in shares of MSCI during the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp boosted its holdings in MSCI by 35.1% in the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 77 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 2,900 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $612.80 per share, for a total transaction of $1,777,120.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 330,379 shares in the company, valued at approximately $202,456,251.20. The trade was a 0.89 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSCI has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Wolfe Research raised MSCI from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays decreased their price target on MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $675.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, MSCI currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $649.23.

MSCI Trading Up 0.8 %

MSCI stock traded up $4.36 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $578.71. The company had a trading volume of 565,157 shares, compared to its average volume of 554,625. MSCI Inc. has a 1 year low of $439.95 and a 1 year high of $642.45. The company has a market capitalization of $44.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.16, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a 50 day moving average of $597.17 and a two-hundred day moving average of $587.09.

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 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 prior year, the business posted $3.68 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $1.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from MSCI's previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.24%. MSCI's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.