Voleon Capital Management LP Takes Position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Voleon Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 706 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $424,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of MSCI by 54.3% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 144,977 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $86,988,000 after acquiring an additional 50,997 shares during the last quarter. Hhlr Advisors LTD. acquired a new stake in MSCI in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,190,000. Candlestick Capital Management LP increased its holdings in MSCI by 141.4% in the 4th quarter. Candlestick Capital Management LP now owns 110,428 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $66,258,000 after purchasing an additional 64,688 shares during the last quarter. Lido Advisors LLC raised its position in MSCI by 22.3% in the fourth quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 1,157 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $694,000 after purchasing an additional 211 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in MSCI by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 784,490 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $470,702,000 after purchasing an additional 48,524 shares in the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 5,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $574.51 per share, for a total transaction of $3,044,903.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 1,269,951 shares in the company, valued at $729,599,549.01. This trade represents a 0.42 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $524.25, for a total transaction of $2,621,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 corporate insiders.

MSCI Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of MSCI stock opened at $546.57 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.30. MSCI Inc. has a 52 week low of $458.69 and a 52 week high of $642.45. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $552.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $582.08.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The technology company reported $4.00 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.88 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $745.83 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $746.45 million. MSCI had a net margin of 38.83% and a negative return on equity of 156.08%. As a group, research analysts expect that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $1.80 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.32%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.48%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSCI has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $675.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of MSCI in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $585.00 price target on the stock. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of MSCI from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 4th. Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of MSCI from $680.00 to $650.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $645.36.

About MSCI

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.