Teza Capital Management LLC Purchases 2,209 Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Teza Capital Management LLC lifted its position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 93.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,576 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,209 shares during the quarter. Teza Capital Management LLC’s holdings in MSCI were worth $2,746,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MSCI. Johnson Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in MSCI by 293.8% during the fourth quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 63 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA bought a new stake in MSCI during the fourth quarter worth approximately $41,000. Colonial Trust Co SC increased its stake in MSCI by 122.6% during the fourth quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 69 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd boosted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 54 shares during the period. Finally, Picton Mahoney Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of MSCI during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $60,000. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSCI has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. 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. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $675.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on MSCI from $532.00 to $530.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Barclays dropped their target price on MSCI from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $645.36.

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MSCI opened at $571.26 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.63, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.33. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $550.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $579.20. MSCI Inc. has a 52-week low of $475.32 and a 52-week high of $642.45.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates 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 negative return on equity of 156.08% and a net margin of 38.83%. Analysts forecast that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $1.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.26%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.48%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 5,300 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,269,951 shares in the company, valued at approximately $729,599,549.01. This trade represents a 0.42% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $552.59, for a total value of $2,762,950.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 289,787 shares in the company, valued at approximately $160,133,398.33. The trade was a 1.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.31% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.