Baird Financial Group Inc. Lowers Stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Baird Financial Group Inc. cut its position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 5.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 167,166 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 10,552 shares during the quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in MSCI were worth $100,301,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in MSCI by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,897,456 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,136,563,000 after buying an additional 35,094 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of MSCI by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,613,005 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $967,820,000 after purchasing an additional 119,471 shares in the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp raised its stake in MSCI by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 1,148,615 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $689,180,000 after purchasing an additional 49,679 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in MSCI in the 4th quarter worth approximately $609,937,000. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its stake in MSCI by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 853,452 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $512,079,000 after purchasing an additional 25,325 shares during the period. 89.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MSCI shares. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $675.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of MSCI from $532.00 to $530.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Bank of America began coverage on MSCI in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $585.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on MSCI from $680.00 to $650.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $645.36.

Insider Transactions at MSCI

In related news, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $524.25, for a total value of $2,621,250.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 294,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $154,542,084.75. This trade represents a 1.67 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 5,300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was bought 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 $729,599,549.01. This trade represents a 0.42 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 3.31% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of MSCI opened at $555.58 on Friday. MSCI Inc. has a twelve month low of $468.43 and a twelve month high of $642.45. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $551.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $581.50. The company has a market cap of $42.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.30.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The technology company reported $4.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.88 by $0.12. MSCI had a net margin of 38.83% and a negative return on equity of 156.08%. The business had revenue of $745.83 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $746.45 million. Analysts predict that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a $1.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.30%. MSCI’s payout ratio is 49.48%.

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.