Hudson Bay Capital Management LP Boosts Stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Hudson Bay Capital Management LP increased its holdings in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 526.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 110,114 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 92,536 shares during the quarter. MSCI accounts for approximately 0.2% of Hudson Bay Capital Management LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest position. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP owned about 0.14% of MSCI worth $66,070,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Gen Wealth Partners Inc grew its stake in shares of MSCI by 27.9% in the fourth quarter. Gen Wealth Partners Inc now owns 1,349 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $810,000 after buying an additional 294 shares in the last quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P. increased its stake in MSCI by 23.3% during the fourth quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P. now owns 5,983 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,590,000 after purchasing an additional 1,131 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth boosted its stake in shares of MSCI by 225.2% in the fourth quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 22,451 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $13,471,000 after purchasing an additional 15,547 shares during the period. Ethic Inc. grew its holdings in shares of MSCI by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 7,397 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,438,000 after purchasing an additional 644 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fiduciary Trust Co lifted its holdings in MSCI by 20.7% during the 4th quarter. Fiduciary Trust Co now owns 3,661 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,197,000 after buying an additional 629 shares in the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MSCI Stock Down 0.3 %

MSCI opened at $556.15 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $548.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $579.73. MSCI Inc. has a 52 week low of $475.32 and a 52 week high of $642.45. The company has a market cap of $43.03 billion, a PE ratio of 39.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.33.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $3.88 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $745.83 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $746.45 million. MSCI had a net margin of 38.83% and a negative return on equity of 156.08%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on MSCI. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed 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 cut their target price on MSCI from $532.00 to $530.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of MSCI in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $585.00 price target on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of MSCI from $680.00 to $650.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, MSCI has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $645.36.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 5,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $574.51 per share, with a total value of $3,044,903.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,269,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $729,599,549.01. The trade was a 0.42 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 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. The trade was a 1.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.31% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.