1,324 Shares in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Bought by Stevens Capital Management LP

Stevens Capital Management LP acquired a new position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 1,324 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $794,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MSCI. LRI Investments LLC raised its position in shares of MSCI by 120.0% in the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 44 shares of the technology company's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new stake in MSCI in the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA acquired a new stake in MSCI in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Private Trust Co. NA increased its position in shares of MSCI by 35.1% during the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 77 shares of the technology company's stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Y.D. More Investments Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 122.7% during 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 last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSCI has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $675.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Wolfe Research raised shares of MSCI from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target 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. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of MSCI from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $617.00 to $723.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, MSCI presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $649.23.

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MSCI Price Performance

MSCI stock traded up $1.32 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $570.79. 25,209 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 527,651. MSCI Inc. has a 1-year low of $439.95 and a 1-year high of $642.45. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $580.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $588.71. The firm has a market cap of $44.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.60, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.19.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 earnings per share 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.68 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $1.80 dividend. This is an increase from MSCI's previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.26%. MSCI's dividend payout ratio is presently 51.21%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 5,300 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $574.51 per share, with a total value of $3,044,903.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly 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 purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.