Natixis Increases Stock Holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Natixis raised its position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 105.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 55,184 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 28,363 shares during the quarter. Natixis owned about 0.07% of MSCI worth $33,111,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MSCI. CWA Asset Management Group LLC boosted its stake in MSCI by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 418 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $251,000 after buying an additional 17 shares during the period. Angeles Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 492 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $295,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of MSCI by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 2,044 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,227,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the period. Perigon Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in MSCI by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 575 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $351,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC raised its position in MSCI by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC now owns 3,325 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,995,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Price Performance

Shares of MSCI stock opened at $546.73 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.89, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.30. MSCI Inc. has a 12 month low of $439.95 and a 12 month high of $642.45. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $558.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $585.72.

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

MSCI Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were given a $1.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.32%. This is an increase from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.21%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $675.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday. Barclays lowered their target price on MSCI from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of MSCI from $680.00 to $650.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of MSCI from $532.00 to $530.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of MSCI in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $585.00 price target on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $643.92.

Insider Buying and Selling at MSCI

In related news, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $524.25, for a total transaction of $2,621,250.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 294,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $154,542,084.75. This represents a 1.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 5,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was acquired 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $729,599,549.01. This represents a 0.42 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 3.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.