MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Shares Sold by Commerce Bank

Commerce Bank lowered its position in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 3.3% 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 19,631 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 661 shares during the period. Commerce Bank’s holdings in MSCI were worth $11,779,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA purchased a new stake in MSCI during the 4th quarter worth about $41,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd lifted its stake in MSCI by 122.7% during the fourth quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 98 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management purchased a new stake in MSCI during the fourth quarter worth approximately $60,000. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its holdings in MSCI by 46.8% in the fourth 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. increased its stake in MSCI by 21.9% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at MSCI

In other 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $729,599,549.01. The trade was a 0.42 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $524.25, for a total value of $2,621,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 3.31% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MSCI. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of MSCI from $532.00 to $530.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of MSCI in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $585.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on MSCI from $680.00 to $650.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $675.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on MSCI from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $643.92.

MSCI Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MSCI opened at $546.73 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $558.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $585.72. MSCI Inc. has a 1-year low of $439.95 and a 1-year high of $642.45. The company has a market cap of $42.45 billion, a PE ratio of 38.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.30.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 in the previous year, the firm posted $3.68 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

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

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.