Pacer Advisors Inc. Has $5.84 Million Position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 66.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,732 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 3,890 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.'s holdings in MSCI were worth $5,839,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MSCI. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in MSCI by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 12,471 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $7,483,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares during the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI during the 4th quarter valued at $2,955,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of MSCI by 19.5% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,012 shares of the technology company's stock worth $590,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of MSCI by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC now owns 441 shares of the technology company's stock worth $265,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Finally, B.O.S.S. Retirement Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of MSCI in the 4th quarter worth $961,000. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of MSCI stock traded down $2.69 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $590.36. 494,088 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 468,343. MSCI Inc. has a 52 week low of $439.95 and a 52 week high of $642.45. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $606.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $581.51. The company has a market cap of $46.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 1.11.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.96 by $0.22. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 162.06% and a net margin of 43.06%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.68 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that MSCI Inc. will post 14.99 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $1.80 per share. This is a positive change from MSCI's previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.22%. MSCI's payout ratio is currently 51.21%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on MSCI shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded MSCI from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the company from $617.00 to $723.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of MSCI from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $680.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on MSCI in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $690.00 target price for the company. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on MSCI from $695.00 to $680.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $649.23.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 2,900 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $612.80 per share, for a total transaction of $1,777,120.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 330,379 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $202,456,251.20. This represents a 0.89 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

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.