IFP Advisors Inc Has $1.24 Million Stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

IFP Advisors Inc raised its position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 4.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,071 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc’s holdings in MSCI were worth $1,243,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MSCI. LRI Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of MSCI by 120.0% in the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 44 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new position in shares of MSCI in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of MSCI in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $40,000. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA acquired a new position in shares of MSCI in the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp lifted its position in shares of MSCI by 35.1% in the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 77 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MSCI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of MSCI from $695.00 to $680.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $675.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, MSCI presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $649.23.

MSCI Trading Down 0.9 %

MSCI opened at $579.16 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $594.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $588.98. 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 $44.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.19, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.11.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last posted its 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 net margin of 38.83% and a negative return on equity of 156.08%. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.68 earnings per share. 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 company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $1.80 dividend. This is a positive change from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.24%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.21%.

Insider Transactions at MSCI

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

MSCI Company 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.