MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Shares Acquired by Xponance Inc.

Xponance Inc. increased its stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 19,597 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 340 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in MSCI were worth $11,758,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. LRI Investments LLC grew its stake in MSCI by 120.0% during the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 44 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new stake in MSCI during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA acquired a new stake in MSCI during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Private Trust Co. NA grew its stake in MSCI by 35.1% during the 3rd 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 grew its stake in MSCI by 122.7% during the 4th quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 98 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE MSCI opened at $568.48 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $44.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.19. MSCI Inc. has a 12-month low of $439.95 and a 12-month high of $642.45. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $583.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $588.95.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 earnings per share (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 period in the prior year, the business posted $3.68 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $1.80 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.27%. This is an increase from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. MSCI’s payout ratio is presently 51.21%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on MSCI shares. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $675.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays reduced their target price on MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $617.00 to $723.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, MSCI currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $649.23.

Insider Buying and Selling at MSCI

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 5,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,269,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $729,599,549.01. The trade was a 0.42 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company 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.