Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Has $171.72 Million Stock Holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lowered its stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 36.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 286,186 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 162,747 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD’s holdings in MSCI were worth $171,715,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of MSCI opened at $535.66 on Friday. MSCI Inc. has a 52-week low of $458.69 and a 52-week high of $642.45. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $555.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $583.65. The firm has a market cap of $41.60 billion, a PE ratio of 38.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.30.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The technology company reported $4.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.88 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $745.83 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $746.45 million. MSCI had a net margin of 38.83% and a negative return on equity of 156.08%. Research analysts predict that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $1.80 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.34%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.48%.

Insider Transactions at MSCI

In other news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 5,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $574.51 per share, for a total transaction of $3,044,903.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 294,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $154,542,084.75. The trade was a 1.67 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 3.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on MSCI shares. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $675.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Barclays reduced their price objective 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. Bank of America initiated coverage on MSCI in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $585.00 target price for the company. Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on MSCI from $680.00 to $650.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $645.36.

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.