California Public Employees Retirement System Trims Stock Position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

California Public Employees Retirement System lowered its position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 2.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 281,829 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 7,509 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned approximately 0.36% of MSCI worth $169,100,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. LRI Investments LLC grew its position in shares of MSCI by 120.0% during the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 44 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new position in MSCI during the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA bought a new stake in shares of MSCI in the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its stake in shares of MSCI by 35.1% during the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 77 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Y.D. More Investments Ltd increased its holdings in MSCI by 122.7% during the fourth quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 98 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the period. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at MSCI

In other news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 5,300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $574.51 per share, with a total value of $3,044,903.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,269,951 shares in the company, valued at $729,599,549.01. The trade was a 0.42 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 3.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

MSCI Stock Down 1.4 %

MSCI opened at $558.03 on Monday. MSCI Inc. has a 52-week low of $439.95 and a 52-week high of $642.45. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $578.82 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $588.92. The company has a market cap of $43.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.69, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.19.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.96 by $0.22. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 156.08% and a net margin of 38.83%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.68 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $1.80 dividend. This is an increase from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.21%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on MSCI shares. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $675.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Wolfe Research raised shares of MSCI from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $617.00 to $723.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MSCI has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $649.23.

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.