O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC Has $7.69 Million Stock Position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 14.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,818 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 1,606 shares during the quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC’s holdings in MSCI were worth $7,691,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 0.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,192,364 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,860,925,000 after acquiring an additional 11,351 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in MSCI by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,862,362 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,082,594,000 after purchasing an additional 13,691 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in MSCI by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,613,005 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $967,820,000 after purchasing an additional 119,471 shares during the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp boosted its position in MSCI by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 1,148,615 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $689,180,000 after buying an additional 49,679 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of MSCI during the fourth quarter worth $609,937,000. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Stock Up 0.3 %

MSCI opened at $566.98 on Wednesday. MSCI Inc. has a twelve month low of $439.95 and a twelve month high of $642.45. The company has a fifty day moving average of $576.88 and a 200-day moving average of $588.99. The stock has a market cap of $44.03 billion, a PE ratio of 40.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.19.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 earnings per share 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 quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.68 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $1.80 dividend. This is an increase 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 payout ratio is presently 51.21%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on MSCI shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded 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 note on Wednesday, December 18th. Wolfe Research raised MSCI from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $649.23.

Insider Buying and Selling at MSCI

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 5,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $574.51 per share, for a total transaction of $3,044,903.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now 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 ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 3.31% 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.