Bokf Na Sells 24 Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Bokf Na lowered its position in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 0.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,875 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 24 shares during the period. Bokf Na’s holdings in MSCI were worth $2,231,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MSCI. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of MSCI by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,897,456 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,136,563,000 after acquiring an additional 35,094 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of MSCI by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,613,005 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $967,820,000 after purchasing an additional 119,471 shares during the period. Fiera Capital Corp grew its holdings in shares of MSCI by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 1,148,615 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $689,180,000 after purchasing an additional 49,679 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of MSCI in the fourth quarter worth $609,937,000. Finally, FMR LLC raised its holdings in MSCI by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 853,452 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $512,079,000 after buying an additional 25,325 shares during the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSCI has been the subject of several research reports. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of MSCI from $673.00 to $631.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on MSCI from $680.00 to $650.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of MSCI from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of MSCI in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $585.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three research 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, MSCI presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $645.36.

MSCI Stock Performance

NYSE MSCI opened at $552.90 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $42.78 billion, a PE ratio of 39.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.33. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $549.79 and its 200-day moving average price is $580.49. MSCI Inc. has a 52-week low of $468.43 and a 52-week high of $642.45.

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

MSCI Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a $1.80 dividend. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.48%.

Insider Transactions at MSCI

In other MSCI news, 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 transaction 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 approximately $154,542,084.75. This trade represents a 1.67 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 5,300 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $574.51 per share, with a total value of $3,044,903.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now 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 disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 3.31% of the company’s stock.

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.