MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Shares Sold by Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich lowered its position in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 5.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,923 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 162 shares during the period. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich’s holdings in MSCI were worth $1,653,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its stake in MSCI by 348.7% in the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 341 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $175,000 after acquiring an additional 265 shares in the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of MSCI by 4.5% in the third quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 669 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $343,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank raised its holdings in shares of MSCI by 45.9% in the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 13,823 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $7,092,000 after buying an additional 4,346 shares during the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in MSCI by 3.2% during the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 41,052 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $21,063,000 after purchasing an additional 1,291 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Apeiron RIA LLC raised its holdings in MSCI by 5.1% during the third quarter. Apeiron RIA LLC now owns 639 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $328,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other MSCI news, COO Cd Baer Pettit bought 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 25th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $459.41 per share, with a total value of $3,445,575.00. Following the purchase, the chief operating officer now owns 291,038 shares in the company, valued at approximately $133,705,767.58. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, COO Cd Baer Pettit purchased 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $459.41 per share, with a total value of $3,445,575.00. Following the purchase, the chief operating officer now directly owns 291,038 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $133,705,767.58. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 13,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $465.92 per share, for a total transaction of $6,056,960.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 327,479 shares in the company, valued at $152,579,015.68. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MSCI opened at $477.78 on Friday. MSCI Inc. has a 1 year low of $439.95 and a 1 year high of $617.39. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $541.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $537.78. The firm has a market cap of $37.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.06.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $3.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.44 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $680.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $685.47 million. MSCI had a net margin of 44.55% and a negative return on equity of 121.86%. MSCI’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.14 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that MSCI Inc. will post 14.59 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid a $1.60 dividend. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.69%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on MSCI shares. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of MSCI from $530.00 to $425.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. StockNews.com lowered shares of MSCI from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of MSCI in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Raymond James reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of MSCI in a research report on Friday, January 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of MSCI from $615.00 to $526.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, MSCI currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $562.87.

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.