Aurora Investment Managers LLC. Has $2.24 Million Position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Aurora Investment Managers LLC. lessened its stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,730 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 115 shares during the period. MSCI comprises about 1.3% of Aurora Investment Managers LLC.’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Aurora Investment Managers LLC.’s holdings in MSCI were worth $2,238,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in MSCI by 28.7% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 220 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $132,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. LVW Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of MSCI by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. LVW Advisors LLC now owns 1,460 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $876,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust increased its position in shares of MSCI by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 3,902 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,341,000 after buying an additional 123 shares during the period. J2 Capital Management Inc bought a new position in MSCI during the fourth quarter worth $274,000. Finally, Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in MSCI by 20.7% during the fourth quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 461 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $277,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on MSCI shares. Evercore ISI began coverage on MSCI in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $690.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $638.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $617.00 to $723.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $680.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, MSCI has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $645.67.

MSCI Trading Up 0.4 %

MSCI opened at $612.25 on Tuesday. MSCI Inc. has a 1-year low of $439.95 and a 1-year high of $642.45. The company has a market cap of $47.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.20, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.11. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $603.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $575.23.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The technology company reported $3.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.77 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $724.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $716.15 million. MSCI had a net margin of 43.06% and a negative return on equity of 162.06%. The firm’s revenue was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.45 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that MSCI Inc. will post 14.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were issued a dividend of $1.60 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.05%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.02%.

Insider Activity at MSCI

In other news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 2,900 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $612.80 per share, with a total value of $1,777,120.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 330,379 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $202,456,251.20. This trade represents a 0.89 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.