Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Sells 12,566 Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. reduced its position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 7.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 166,148 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 12,566 shares during the quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned 0.21% of MSCI worth $99,690,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. LRI Investments LLC grew its position in MSCI by 120.0% during the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 44 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new position in shares of MSCI during the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA purchased a new position in MSCI in the 4th quarter worth $41,000. Private Trust Co. NA lifted its stake in MSCI by 35.1% in the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 77 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Y.D. More Investments Ltd grew its stake in shares of MSCI by 122.7% during the fourth quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 98 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 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, with a total value of $3,044,903.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,269,951 shares in the company, valued at approximately $729,599,549.01. This represents a 0.42 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

MSCI Stock Performance

MSCI stock opened at $565.72 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $43.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.19. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $579.90 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $588.55. MSCI Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $439.95 and a fifty-two week high of $642.45.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 prior year, the business earned $3.68 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $1.80 per share. This is a boost from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.21%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.