Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. Reduces Holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. reduced its position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 13.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,285 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 194 shares during the period. Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A.’s holdings in MSCI were worth $771,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MSCI. Edgewood Management LLC raised its position in MSCI by 16.9% in the 3rd quarter. Edgewood Management LLC now owns 2,195,639 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,279,904,000 after purchasing an additional 318,214 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in MSCI in the fourth quarter valued at $126,082,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of MSCI by 14.3% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,587,723 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $925,531,000 after buying an additional 198,666 shares during the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP raised its holdings in shares of MSCI by 700.4% in the fourth quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 186,131 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $111,680,000 after buying an additional 162,877 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Funds Management LTD acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI during the fourth quarter worth about $82,722,000. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on MSCI shares. Barclays reduced their price objective on MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $617.00 to $723.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Morgan Stanley lifted 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 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 note on Thursday, December 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, MSCI presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $649.23.

MSCI Trading Up 1.5 %

MSCI stock opened at $590.15 on Monday. 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 $45.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.11. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $593.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $589.88.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 last year, the business posted $3.68 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect 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 $1.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.22%. This is a boost from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.21%.

Insider Transactions at MSCI

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 5,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $574.51 per share, for a total transaction of $3,044,903.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,269,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $729,599,549.01. This trade represents a 0.42 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate 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.