Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS Has $9.73 Million Stock Holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS increased its stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 0.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 17,363 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS’s holdings in MSCI were worth $9,731,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MSCI. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 9.7% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 239,933 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $134,475,000 after buying an additional 21,310 shares in the last quarter. Evoke Wealth LLC increased its stake in MSCI by 18.4% in the fourth quarter. Evoke Wealth LLC now owns 13,720 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $7,761,000 after purchasing an additional 2,135 shares in the last quarter. Grayhawk Investment Strategies Inc. acquired a new position in shares of MSCI during the fourth quarter valued at about $959,000. Nomura Holdings Inc. bought a new position in MSCI in the fourth quarter worth approximately $904,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in MSCI by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 819,422 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $463,506,000 after acquiring an additional 57,342 shares during the period. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

MSCI Trading Up 1.3 %

MSCI stock traded up $6.44 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $507.94. The company had a trading volume of 544,173 shares, compared to its average volume of 583,575. MSCI Inc. has a 52 week low of $439.95 and a 52 week high of $617.39. The stock has a market cap of $40.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.67, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.10. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $490.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $525.94.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $3.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.44 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $680.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $685.47 million. MSCI had a net margin of 44.55% and a negative return on equity of 121.86%. MSCI’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.14 earnings per share. Analysts predict that MSCI Inc. will post 14.67 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 31st. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th were given a dividend of $1.60 per share. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 16th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.69%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Scott A. Crum sold 9,000 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $471.69, for a total transaction of $4,245,210.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,831 shares in the company, valued at $6,052,254.39. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other MSCI news, insider Scott A. Crum sold 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $471.69, for a total value of $4,245,210.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 12,831 shares in the company, valued at $6,052,254.39. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Cd Baer Pettit bought 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 25th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $459.41 per share, with a total value of $3,445,575.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, 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. 3.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on MSCI shares. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of MSCI from $615.00 to $526.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Barclays dropped their target price on MSCI from $700.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Bank of America raised MSCI from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $425.00 to $525.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised 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 report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $571.20.

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.