MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Stock Position Raised by PineStone Asset Management Inc.

PineStone Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 17.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 569,374 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 84,354 shares during the period. MSCI makes up about 3.2% of PineStone Asset Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest position. PineStone Asset Management Inc. owned 0.73% of MSCI worth $341,630,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. LRI Investments LLC raised its holdings in 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 buying an additional 24 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI during the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI during the third quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp boosted its stake in 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. 89.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at MSCI

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 2,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $612.80 per share, for a total transaction of $1,777,120.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 330,379 shares in the company, valued at $202,456,251.20. This represents a 0.89 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSCI has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $617.00 to $723.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $675.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of MSCI from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, MSCI presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $649.23.

MSCI Stock Performance

MSCI opened at $572.78 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $602.42 and a 200-day moving average of $586.05. MSCI Inc. has a 52-week low of $439.95 and a 52-week high of $642.45. The company has a market cap of $44.89 billion, a PE ratio of 40.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 1.11.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 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 prior year, the firm earned $3.68 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $1.80 per share. 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.26%. MSCI’s payout ratio is currently 45.52%.

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.