MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Shares Bought by Merit Financial Group LLC

Merit Financial Group LLC grew its stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 2.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,814 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in MSCI were worth $1,026,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Optiver Holding B.V. purchased a new position in MSCI in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. ORG Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of MSCI by 5,600.0% during the 3rd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 57 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the period. Headinvest LLC purchased a new position in shares of MSCI during the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI in the third quarter valued at about $51,000. Finally, Quent Capital LLC increased its position in MSCI by 23.5% during the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 100 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on MSCI shares. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of MSCI from $671.00 to $615.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Bank of America raised MSCI from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $425.00 to $525.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Redburn Atlantic lowered MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $620.00 to $470.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of MSCI from $615.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, MSCI currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $569.53.

Insider Transactions at MSCI

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 13,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 25th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $465.92 per share, with a total value of $6,056,960.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 327,479 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $152,579,015.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, insider Scott A. Crum sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $471.69, for a total value of $4,245,210.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,831 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,052,254.39. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 13,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 25th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $465.92 per share, with a total value of $6,056,960.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 327,479 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $152,579,015.68. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MSCI opened at $467.04 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.00 billion, a PE ratio of 31.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.09. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $532.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $536.44. MSCI Inc. has a 1 year low of $439.95 and a 1 year high of $617.39.

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

MSCI Announces Dividend

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

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.