MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Shares Sold by IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd

IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd reduced its holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 17.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 655 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 139 shares during the quarter. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd’s holdings in MSCI were worth $393,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. NEOS Investment Management LLC grew its stake in MSCI by 31.4% during the 4th quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 2,157 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,294,000 after buying an additional 515 shares during the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd grew its position in shares of MSCI by 22.5% during the fourth quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 6,319 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,791,000 after acquiring an additional 1,161 shares during the last quarter. Sava Infond d.o.o. acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI in the 4th quarter worth about $660,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in MSCI by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 567,834 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $340,707,000 after purchasing an additional 31,623 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in MSCI by 7.6% during the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 121,729 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $73,218,000 after purchasing an additional 8,632 shares during the period. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MSCI shares. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $675.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of MSCI from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $649.23.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 5,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $574.51 per share, for a total transaction of $3,044,903.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 1,269,951 shares in the company, valued at $729,599,549.01. This trade represents a 0.42 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

MSCI Trading Down 1.4 %

NYSE MSCI opened at $558.03 on Friday. 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 $43.33 billion, a PE ratio of 39.69, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.19. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $578.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter last year, the company earned $3.68 EPS. Research analysts forecast that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a $1.80 dividend. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.21%.

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.