Townsquare Capital LLC Has $28.13 Million Position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Townsquare Capital LLC lessened its position in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 3.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 46,875 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 1,845 shares during the quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC owned approximately 0.06% of MSCI worth $28,126,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. CWA Asset Management Group LLC grew its stake in MSCI by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 418 shares of the technology company's stock worth $251,000 after buying an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in MSCI by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 492 shares of the technology company's stock worth $295,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of MSCI by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 2,044 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,227,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of MSCI by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 575 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $351,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC raised its stake in shares of MSCI by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC now owns 3,325 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,995,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Insider Activity at MSCI

In other news, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $524.25, for a total transaction of $2,621,250.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 294,787 shares in the company, valued at $154,542,084.75. The trade was a 1.67 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 5,300 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $574.51 per share, for a total transaction of $3,044,903.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 1,269,951 shares in the company, valued at $729,599,549.01. This trade represents a 0.42 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 3.31% of the company's stock.

MSCI Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of MSCI stock traded up $5.28 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $556.53. The company's stock had a trading volume of 361,993 shares, compared to its average volume of 569,009. MSCI Inc. has a one year low of $439.95 and a one year high of $642.45. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $560.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $586.46. The company has a market cap of $43.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.30.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 last year, the company posted $3.68 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $1.80 per share. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from MSCI's previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. MSCI's dividend payout ratio is presently 51.21%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on MSCI shares. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $675.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of MSCI from $623.00 to $532.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of MSCI in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $585.00 target price for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of 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. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on MSCI from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $646.58.

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.