Focus Financial Network Inc. Makes New Investment in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Focus Financial Network Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 424 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $254,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC grew its position in MSCI by 0.9% in the third quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 1,968 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,147,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in MSCI by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 418 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $251,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in MSCI by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 492 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $295,000 after buying an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of MSCI by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 2,044 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,227,000 after buying an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp boosted its stake in shares of MSCI by 35.1% during the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 77 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $675.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $617.00 to $723.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of MSCI from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $649.23.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 2,900 shares of the company’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 completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 330,379 shares in the company, valued at approximately $202,456,251.20. This represents a 0.89 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Price Performance

Shares of MSCI stock opened at $572.78 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $602.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $586.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.89 billion, a PE ratio of 40.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 1.11. MSCI Inc. has a 52-week low of $439.95 and a 52-week high of $642.45.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.96 by $0.22. MSCI had a net margin of 38.83% and a negative return on equity of 156.08%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.68 earnings per share. Analysts predict that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

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

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.