Wealthfront Advisers LLC Purchases 346 Shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI)

Wealthfront Advisers LLC raised its stake in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) by 5.9% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 6,207 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 346 shares during the quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC’s holdings in MSCI were worth $3,510,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MSCI. Menard Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Olde Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in MSCI during the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in MSCI by 293.8% during the 4th quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 63 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC increased its stake in MSCI by 122.6% during the 4th quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 69 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HWG Holdings LP acquired a new position in shares of MSCI during the 1st quarter worth approximately $44,000. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of MSCI opened at $580.78 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $566.28 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $568.33. The firm has a market cap of $44.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.92, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.32. MSCI Inc has a twelve month low of $486.74 and a twelve month high of $642.45.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The technology company reported $4.00 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.88 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $745.83 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $746.45 million. MSCI had a net margin of 39.08% and a negative return on equity of 145.52%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th were given a dividend of $1.80 per share. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.48%.

Insider Transactions at MSCI

In other news, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $552.59, for a total value of $2,762,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 289,787 shares in the company, valued at approximately $160,133,398.33. This trade represents a 1.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 3.31% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on MSCI shares. Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on MSCI from $673.00 to $631.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Bank of America started coverage on MSCI in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $585.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on MSCI from $530.00 to $578.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on MSCI from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $651.55.

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.