State of Tennessee Department of Treasury Has $17.57 Million Stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

State of Tennessee Department of Treasury increased its stake in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 31.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,275 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 7,012 shares during the period. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury's holdings in MSCI were worth $17,565,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of MSCI by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,493,534 shares of the technology company's stock worth $870,627,000 after buying an additional 37,340 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB raised its position in MSCI by 26.2% during the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 919 shares of the technology company's stock worth $536,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC grew its position in shares of MSCI by 76.3% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 12,209 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $7,117,000 after purchasing an additional 5,283 shares during the last quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp grew its position in shares of MSCI by 47.5% in the third quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 975 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $568,000 after purchasing an additional 314 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of MSCI by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 536,211 shares of the technology company's stock worth $312,574,000 after purchasing an additional 23,050 shares in the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MSCI Price Performance

Shares of MSCI stock traded up $5.06 during trading on Friday, hitting $535.66. The stock had a trading volume of 504,498 shares, compared to its average volume of 545,935. The business has a fifty day moving average of $555.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $583.80. MSCI Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $458.69 and a fifty-two week high of $642.45. The firm has a market cap of $41.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.10, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.30.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The technology company reported $4.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.88 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $745.83 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $746.45 million. MSCI had a net margin of 38.83% and a negative return on equity of 156.08%. As a group, research analysts forecast that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $1.80 per share. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.34%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. MSCI's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.48%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 5,300 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $574.51 per share, with a total value of $3,044,903.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 1,269,951 shares of the company's stock, valued at $729,599,549.01. The trade was a 0.42 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 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. Corporate insiders own 3.31% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Barclays lowered their target price on MSCI from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 4th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on MSCI from $673.00 to $631.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Bank of America began coverage on shares of MSCI in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $585.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $675.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of MSCI from $532.00 to $530.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $645.36.

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.