Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV Buys 722 Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 23.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,743 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 722 shares during the quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV’s holdings in MSCI were worth $2,246,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Johnson Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of MSCI by 293.8% in the fourth quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 63 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA acquired a new position in MSCI during the 4th quarter worth $41,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd boosted its holdings in MSCI by 122.7% during 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 acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI in the fourth quarter valued at about $60,000. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA increased its stake in shares of MSCI by 46.8% in 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 period. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MSCI news, 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 5,300 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was bought at an average price of $574.51 per share, for a total transaction of $3,044,903.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,269,951 shares in the company, 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. Company insiders own 3.31% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MSCI opened at $552.90 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $549.79 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $580.49. MSCI Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $468.43 and a fifty-two week high of $642.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.33.

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

MSCI Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $1.80 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.30%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.48%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSCI has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America began coverage on MSCI in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $585.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $675.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of MSCI from $673.00 to $631.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of MSCI from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, MSCI presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $645.36.

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.