World Investment Advisors Makes New $409,000 Investment in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

World Investment Advisors bought a new stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 682 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $409,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CWA Asset Management Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of MSCI by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 418 shares of the technology company's stock worth $251,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares during the period. Angeles Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in MSCI by 3.6% during 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 during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC boosted its position in 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 period. Perigon Wealth Management LLC increased 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 purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC raised its position 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 valued at $1,995,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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MSCI Trading Up 2.7 %

MSCI traded up $14.49 during trading on Friday, reaching $542.26. 464,559 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 569,462. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.11 billion, a PE ratio of 38.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.30. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $562.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $586.71. MSCI Inc. has a one year low of $439.95 and a one year high of $642.45.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 last year, the firm posted $3.68 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $1.80 per share. 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 1.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. MSCI's payout ratio is currently 51.21%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 5,300 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,269,951 shares in the company, valued at approximately $729,599,549.01. This trade represents a 0.42 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of the company'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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 294,787 shares in the company, valued at approximately $154,542,084.75. This trade represents 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.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSCI has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of MSCI from $623.00 to $532.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded MSCI from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $617.00 to $723.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $675.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Bank of America assumed coverage on MSCI in a research report on Thursday. They set a "neutral" rating and a $585.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus 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.