XTX Topco Ltd Lowers Position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

XTX Topco Ltd decreased its position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 42.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,159 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 872 shares during the quarter. XTX Topco Ltd's holdings in MSCI were worth $695,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MSCI. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA purchased a new position in shares of MSCI in the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd increased its position in shares of MSCI by 122.7% in the fourth quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 98 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the period. Picton Mahoney Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of MSCI in the fourth quarter valued at about $60,000. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its stake in shares of MSCI by 46.8% during the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 113 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $68,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of MSCI by 21.9% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 117 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company's stock.

MSCI Stock Up 1.1 %

MSCI stock traded up $5.84 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $544.32. The stock had a trading volume of 157,637 shares, compared to its average volume of 580,576. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.30. MSCI Inc. has a 12-month low of $449.00 and a 12-month high of $642.45. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $557.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $584.95.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last issued its 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 business had revenue of $745.83 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $746.45 million. MSCI had a net margin of 38.83% and a negative return on equity of 156.08%. On average, research analysts expect that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $1.80 per share. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.32%. This is a boost from MSCI's previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. MSCI's payout ratio is presently 51.21%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 5,300 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was bought at an average price of $574.51 per share, with a total value of $3,044,903.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,269,951 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $729,599,549.01. The trade was a 0.42 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 294,787 shares of the company's stock, valued at $154,542,084.75. The trade was a 1.67 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MSCI shares. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of MSCI from $673.00 to $631.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Bank of America started coverage on shares of MSCI in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $585.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of MSCI from $532.00 to $530.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of MSCI from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of MSCI from $680.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $639.00.

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.