TCG Advisory Services LLC Takes $16.41 Million Position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

TCG Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 29,003 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,406,000. MSCI comprises 1.1% of TCG Advisory Services LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 18th largest holding.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its holdings in shares of MSCI by 348.7% in the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 341 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $175,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of MSCI by 14.6% in the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 7,031 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,608,000 after purchasing an additional 897 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of MSCI by 9.4% in the third quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 1,400 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $718,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates grew its holdings in shares of MSCI by 39.1% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 61,930 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $31,775,000 after purchasing an additional 17,400 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of MSCI by 2.6% in the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 8,475 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,349,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares during the period. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MSCI Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE:MSCI traded down $0.66 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $467.04. The stock had a trading volume of 826,479 shares, compared to its average volume of 922,270. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $532.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $536.09. The company has a market capitalization of $37.00 billion, a PE ratio of 31.88, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.09. MSCI Inc. has a twelve month low of $439.95 and a twelve month high of $617.39.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $3.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.44 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $680.00 million for 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%. The firm’s revenue was up 14.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.14 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that MSCI Inc. will post 14.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The company 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 $1.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.37%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.69%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MSCI. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of MSCI from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $613.00 to $569.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Bank of America raised shares of MSCI from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $425.00 to $525.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of MSCI from $615.00 to $526.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $569.53.

Insider Activity at MSCI

In other news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 13,000 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $465.92 per share, with a total value of $6,056,960.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 327,479 shares in the company, valued at $152,579,015.68. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 13,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were bought at an average price of $465.92 per share, with a total value 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 acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Cd Baer Pettit acquired 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $459.41 per share, for a total transaction of $3,445,575.00. Following the acquisition, the chief operating officer now 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 corporate insiders.

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.