MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Position Raised by Integrated Investment Consultants LLC

Integrated Investment Consultants LLC raised its position in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 3.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,087 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC’s holdings in MSCI were worth $652,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Edgewood Management LLC raised its position in MSCI by 16.9% in the third quarter. Edgewood Management LLC now owns 2,195,639 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,279,904,000 after acquiring an additional 318,214 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in 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 worth $925,531,000 after buying an additional 198,666 shares during the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP lifted its position in shares of MSCI by 700.4% during the 4th quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 186,131 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $111,680,000 after acquiring an additional 162,877 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of MSCI by 358.3% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 133,636 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $77,900,000 after acquiring an additional 104,474 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Champlain Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI during the third quarter worth $56,101,000. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on MSCI shares. Evercore ISI started coverage on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $690.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group reduced their target price on MSCI from $695.00 to $680.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Wolfe Research raised MSCI from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $617.00 to $723.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, MSCI currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $645.67.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 2,900 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $612.80 per share, for a total transaction of $1,777,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 330,379 shares in the company, valued at approximately $202,456,251.20. This trade represents a 0.89 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

MSCI Stock Up 0.4 %

MSCI opened at $612.25 on Friday. MSCI Inc. has a 12-month low of $439.95 and a 12-month high of $642.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.11. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $603.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $573.14.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The technology company reported $3.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.77 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $724.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $716.15 million. MSCI had a net margin of 43.06% and a negative return on equity of 162.06%. MSCI’s quarterly revenue was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.45 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc. will post 14.99 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were given a dividend of $1.60 per share. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.05%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.02%.

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.