UMB Bank n.a. Buys 37 Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 16.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 257 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 37 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a.’s holdings in MSCI were worth $145,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. acquired a new stake in MSCI in the fourth quarter valued at $205,000. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in shares of MSCI by 26.5% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 1,861 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,117,000 after buying an additional 390 shares during the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of MSCI by 56.7% in the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 550 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $330,000 after buying an additional 199 shares during the period. Summit Trail Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of MSCI by 31.7% during the fourth quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 1,067 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $640,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Focus Financial Network Inc. acquired a new position in shares of MSCI in the fourth quarter worth approximately $254,000. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

MSCI Stock Performance

MSCI stock opened at $554.11 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $551.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $576.03. The company has a market cap of $42.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.33. MSCI Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $475.32 and a fifty-two week high of $642.45.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued 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. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 156.08% and a net margin of 38.83%. The company had revenue of $745.83 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $746.45 million. Equities analysts predict that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th were issued a dividend of $1.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 16th. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.30%. MSCI’s payout ratio is 49.48%.

Insider Buying and Selling at MSCI

In related news, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $552.59, for a total transaction of $2,762,950.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 289,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $160,133,398.33. The trade was a 1.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 3.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSCI has been the subject of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $675.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of MSCI from $680.00 to $650.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Bank of America began coverage on shares of MSCI in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $585.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective 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. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $645.36.

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.