Center for Financial Planning Inc. Takes $87,000 Position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Center for Financial Planning Inc. purchased a new stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 145 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $87,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MSCI. LRI Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of MSCI by 120.0% in the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 44 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new stake in shares of MSCI in the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of MSCI in the 3rd quarter valued at about $40,000. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA bought a new stake in shares of MSCI in the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp grew its position in shares of MSCI by 35.1% in the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 77 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 2,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was bought at an average price of $612.80 per share, with a total value of $1,777,120.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now 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 can be accessed through this link. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

MSCI Stock Up 0.1 %

NYSE:MSCI opened at $572.78 on Friday. MSCI Inc. has a twelve month low of $439.95 and a twelve month high of $642.45. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $602.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $586.05. The company has a market cap of $44.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 1.11.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 EPS 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 firm posted $3.68 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $1.80 dividend. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.52%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MSCI. Wolfe Research upgraded MSCI from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $617.00 to $723.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Barclays decreased their price objective on MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $675.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Four equities 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.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $649.23.

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.