MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Position Increased by Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 0.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 17,608 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 70 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in MSCI were worth $10,565,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MSCI. LRI Investments LLC grew its position in MSCI by 120.0% during the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 44 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI in the third quarter valued at $38,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI in the third quarter worth $40,000. Planning Capital Management Corp grew its holdings in shares of MSCI by 35.1% during the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 77 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA raised its position in MSCI by 35.1% during the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 77 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. 89.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on MSCI from $570.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of MSCI from $695.00 to $680.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $617.00 to $723.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Four 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, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $649.23.

MSCI Stock Performance

MSCI opened at $579.13 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $45.39 billion, a PE ratio of 41.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 1.11. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $605.76 and a 200-day moving average of $584.53. MSCI Inc. has a 52-week low of $439.95 and a 52-week high of $642.45.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 earnings per share (EPS) 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 previous year, the company earned $3.68 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that MSCI Inc. will post 16.85 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $1.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.24%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.21%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 2,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $612.80 per share, with a total value of $1,777,120.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 330,379 shares in the company, valued at approximately $202,456,251.20. This represents a 0.89 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company 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.