MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Shares Acquired by Axxcess Wealth Management LLC

Axxcess Wealth Management LLC grew its position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 5.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,984 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 669 shares during the quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in MSCI were worth $7,910,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Merit Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of MSCI by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 1,814 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,026,000 after buying an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. acquired a new position in MSCI in the 4th quarter valued at $120,000. Summit Global Investments lifted its stake in shares of MSCI by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 3,117 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,763,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 12.9% during the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 46,881 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $26,517,000 after purchasing an additional 5,365 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in MSCI by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 185,102 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $104,703,000 after purchasing an additional 2,764 shares during the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at MSCI

In related news, COO Cd Baer Pettit purchased 7,500 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The stock was bought at an average price of $459.41 per share, with a total value of $3,445,575.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 291,038 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $133,705,767.58. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 13,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 25th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $465.92 per share, for a total transaction of $6,056,960.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 327,479 shares in the company, valued at approximately $152,579,015.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Cd Baer Pettit bought 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were bought at an average price of $459.41 per share, with a total value of $3,445,575.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief operating officer now owns 291,038 shares in the company, valued at $133,705,767.58. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

MSCI Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of MSCI traded down $0.66 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $467.04. The stock had a trading volume of 826,479 shares, compared to its average volume of 922,270. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $532.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $536.09. The firm has a market cap of $37.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.09. MSCI Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $439.95 and a fifty-two week high of $617.39.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $3.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.44 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $680.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $685.47 million. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 121.86% and a net margin of 44.55%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.14 EPS. On average, analysts expect that MSCI Inc. will post 14.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be given a $1.60 dividend. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is 43.69%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSCI has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com cut MSCI from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $638.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a report on Friday, April 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of MSCI from $615.00 to $526.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on MSCI from $671.00 to $615.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $569.53.

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.