Vise Technologies Inc. Buys New Position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Vise Technologies Inc. bought a new stake in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 628 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $377,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MSCI. Johnson Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in MSCI by 293.8% in the fourth quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 63 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA bought a new position in MSCI in the fourth quarter worth approximately $41,000. Colonial Trust Co SC boosted its holdings in MSCI by 122.6% in the fourth quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 69 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd boosted its holdings in MSCI by 122.7% in the fourth quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 98 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Picton Mahoney Asset Management bought a new position in MSCI in the fourth quarter worth approximately $60,000. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of MSCI stock opened at $559.11 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $43.26 billion, a PE ratio of 39.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.33. MSCI Inc. has a 52 week low of $475.32 and a 52 week high of $642.45. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $550.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $578.45.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The technology company reported $4.00 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $1.80 per share. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. MSCI’s payout ratio is 49.48%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on MSCI. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $675.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Bank of America began coverage on MSCI in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $585.00 price target on the stock. Barclays cut their price target on MSCI from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 4th. 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 note on Wednesday, April 23rd. 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $645.36.

Insider Activity at MSCI

In related news, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 289,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $160,133,398.33. This trade represents a 1.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 3.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.