MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Shares Purchased by TD Private Client Wealth LLC

TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 34.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 4,307 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,092 shares during the period. TD Private Client Wealth LLC’s holdings in MSCI were worth $2,584,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Edgewood Management LLC raised its position in shares of MSCI by 16.9% during the 3rd quarter. Edgewood Management LLC now owns 2,195,639 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,279,904,000 after acquiring an additional 318,214 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $185,003,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $126,082,000. Canoe Financial LP raised its position in shares of MSCI by 700.4% during the 4th quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 186,131 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $111,680,000 after acquiring an additional 162,877 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Funds Management LTD acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $82,722,000. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at MSCI

In other news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 5,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $574.51 per share, with a total value of $3,044,903.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,269,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $729,599,549.01. This represents a 0.42 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on MSCI shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $675.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a research 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 research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Wolfe Research raised MSCI from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $649.23.

MSCI Stock Performance

NYSE:MSCI opened at $562.98 on Friday. MSCI Inc. has a 1 year low of $439.95 and a 1 year high of $642.45. The stock has a market cap of $43.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.04, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.19. The business has a fifty day moving average of $581.93 and a 200-day moving average of $588.55.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last released 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 previous year, the business earned $3.68 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors 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 1.28%. This is a boost from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.21%.

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.