GAMMA Investing LLC Acquires Shares of 186 MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 186 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $111,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of MSCI during the third quarter worth $434,000. Bleakley Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of MSCI by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 2,340 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,324,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of MSCI by 19.2% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 218,623 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $124,786,000 after acquiring an additional 35,277 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of MSCI by 13,659.5% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 10,182 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $5,759,000 after acquiring an additional 10,108 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd raised its position in shares of MSCI by 3.0% during the third quarter. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd now owns 430,676 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $220,971,000 after acquiring an additional 12,495 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Price Performance

MSCI stock opened at $477.78 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.06. The business has a 50-day moving average of $541.71 and a 200-day moving average of $538.00. MSCI Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $439.95 and a fifty-two week high of $617.39.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $3.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.44 by $0.08. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 121.86% and a net margin of 44.55%. The company had revenue of $680.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $685.47 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.14 earnings per share. MSCI’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that MSCI Inc. will post 14.59 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th will be issued a dividend of $1.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.34%. MSCI’s payout ratio is presently 43.69%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America dropped their target price on MSCI from $530.00 to $425.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on MSCI from $615.00 to $526.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on MSCI from $615.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Raymond James reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of MSCI in a research note on Friday, January 5th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on MSCI from $700.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, MSCI currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $562.87.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Cd Baer Pettit bought 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $459.41 per share, for a total transaction of $3,445,575.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief operating officer now owns 291,038 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $133,705,767.58. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, COO Cd Baer Pettit bought 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $459.41 per share, for a total transaction of $3,445,575.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief operating officer now owns 291,038 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $133,705,767.58. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 13,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were bought at an average price of $465.92 per share, for a total transaction of $6,056,960.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 327,479 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $152,579,015.68. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.