Quantbot Technologies LP Invests $5.58 Million in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 9,949 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,576,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MSCI. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of MSCI in the first quarter worth about $26,000. Headinvest LLC acquired a new position in shares of MSCI during the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. American National Bank boosted its position in shares of MSCI by 1,300.0% in the fourth quarter. American National Bank now owns 70 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. First United Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI in the fourth quarter worth $48,000. Finally, Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC increased its position in MSCI by 36.1% during the fourth quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC now owns 98 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MSCI news, COO Cd Baer Pettit bought 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The stock was bought at an average price of $459.41 per share, for a total transaction of $3,445,575.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 291,038 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $133,705,767.58. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 13,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 25th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $465.92 per share, for a total transaction of $6,056,960.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 327,479 shares in the company, valued at $152,579,015.68. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Cd Baer Pettit bought 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $459.41 per share, with a total value of $3,445,575.00. Following the purchase, the chief operating officer now directly owns 291,038 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $133,705,767.58. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on MSCI in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded MSCI from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $613.00 to $569.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on MSCI from $615.00 to $526.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic raised MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $485.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, May 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $571.20.

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MSCI traded up $8.07 during trading on Friday, reaching $501.72. The company had a trading volume of 664,404 shares, compared to its average volume of 584,316. MSCI Inc. has a 52 week low of $439.95 and a 52 week high of $617.39. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $488.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $527.77. The stock has a market cap of $39.75 billion, a PE ratio of 33.94, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.10.

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. The firm had revenue of $680.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $685.47 million. MSCI had a net margin of 44.55% and a negative return on equity of 121.86%. MSCI’s revenue was up 14.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.14 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc. will post 14.67 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 31st. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th were given a $1.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.28%. MSCI’s payout ratio is 43.69%.

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.