MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Shares Sold by Wrapmanager Inc.

Wrapmanager Inc. lessened its position in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 17.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,422 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 294 shares during the quarter. Wrapmanager Inc.’s holdings in MSCI were worth $853,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MSCI. Edgewood Management LLC lifted its position in MSCI by 16.9% during the third quarter. Edgewood Management LLC now owns 2,195,639 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,279,904,000 after buying an additional 318,214 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in MSCI by 14.3% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,587,723 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $925,531,000 after purchasing an additional 198,666 shares in the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP grew its stake 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 in the last quarter. Fisher Funds Management LTD purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI in the 4th quarter valued at $82,722,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in MSCI by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,613,005 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $967,820,000 after acquiring an additional 119,471 shares in the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MSCI Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of MSCI stock opened at $573.31 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $595.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $588.70. MSCI Inc. has a 52-week low of $439.95 and a 52-week high of $642.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.52 billion, a PE ratio of 40.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.11.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 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 period in the prior year, the company earned $3.68 earnings per share. Analysts expect that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $1.80 per share. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.26%. This is an increase from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.21%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on MSCI. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $617.00 to $723.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of MSCI from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of MSCI from $695.00 to $680.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $649.23.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 2,900 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was acquired 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 position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

MSCI 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.