870 Shares in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Acquired by Sivia Capital Partners LLC

Sivia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 870 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $492,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MSCI. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI during the fourth quarter worth approximately $609,937,000. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its stake in MSCI by 16,353.6% during the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 587,557 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $352,539,000 after buying an additional 583,986 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in MSCI by 61,179.6% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 505,557 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $285,892,000 after buying an additional 504,732 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its stake in MSCI by 3,881.3% during the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 419,429 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $251,662,000 after buying an additional 408,894 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in MSCI by 169.4% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 507,413 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $304,453,000 after buying an additional 319,083 shares during the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MSCI Stock Up 0.8%

NYSE:MSCI opened at $568.66 on Friday. MSCI Inc. has a 52 week low of $475.32 and a 52 week high of $642.45. The company has a market capitalization of $44.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.33. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $550.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $576.56.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last posted its 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 for 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%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th were issued a $1.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 16th. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.27%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.48%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on MSCI shares. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $675.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Barclays lowered their price objective on MSCI from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Bank of America started coverage on MSCI in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $585.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on MSCI from $673.00 to $631.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $645.36.

Insider Activity at MSCI

In related news, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $552.59, for a total value of $2,762,950.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 289,787 shares in the company, valued at approximately $160,133,398.33. The trade was a 1.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 3.31% of the company’s stock.

MSCI 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.