MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Stock Position Lifted by Machina Capital S.A.S.

Machina Capital S.A.S. grew its position in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 183.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,912 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 1,886 shares during the period. Machina Capital S.A.S.’s holdings in MSCI were worth $1,747,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of MSCI. LRI Investments LLC raised its position in shares of MSCI by 120.0% during 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 stake in shares of MSCI during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $40,000. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI during the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp raised its position in shares of MSCI by 35.1% during 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 own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $617.00 to $723.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Wolfe Research upgraded MSCI from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $675.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Barclays lowered 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 data from MarketBeat, MSCI presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $649.23.

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of MSCI stock opened at $562.01 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 $43.64 billion, a PE ratio of 39.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.19. The business’s fifty day moving average is $590.02 and its 200-day moving average is $589.82.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.68 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $1.80 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.28%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.21%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 5,300 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was acquired at an average cost 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 in the company, valued at $729,599,549.01. The trade was a 0.42 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 3.20% of the stock is owned by 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.