ProShare Advisors LLC Has $10.80 Million Stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 10.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 17,995 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,688 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in MSCI were worth $10,797,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Johnson Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of MSCI by 293.8% during the fourth quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 63 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA bought a new position in MSCI in the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Colonial Trust Co SC boosted its position in MSCI by 122.6% in the 4th quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 69 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd boosted its position in MSCI by 122.7% in the 4th quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 98 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LRI Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of MSCI by 125.0% in the 4th quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 99 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $524.25, for a total transaction of $2,621,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 294,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $154,542,084.75. This represents a 1.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 5,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $574.51 per share, with a total value of $3,044,903.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 1,269,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $729,599,549.01. This represents a 0.42% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 3.31% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of MSCI stock opened at $571.26 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $550.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $579.20. The company has a market capitalization of $44.20 billion, a PE ratio of 40.63, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.33. MSCI Inc. has a 12 month low of $475.32 and a 12 month high of $642.45.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $745.83 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $746.45 million. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 156.08% and a net margin of 38.83%. Analysts predict that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $1.80 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.26%. MSCI’s payout ratio is 49.48%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on MSCI from $673.00 to $631.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of MSCI from $680.00 to $650.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective 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. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on shares of MSCI in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $585.00 target price for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.