MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Shares Sold by CIBC Asset Management Inc

CIBC Asset Management Inc decreased its holdings in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 8.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 57,491 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 5,343 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc owned about 0.07% of MSCI worth $34,441,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of MSCI by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,192,364 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,860,925,000 after acquiring an additional 11,351 shares during the period. Edgewood Management LLC lifted 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 purchasing an additional 318,214 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in MSCI by 0.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,862,362 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,082,594,000 after buying an additional 13,691 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of MSCI by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,613,005 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $967,820,000 after purchasing an additional 119,471 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in shares of MSCI by 14.3% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,587,723 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $925,531,000 after purchasing an additional 198,666 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of MSCI from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $675.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays decreased their price target 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, Morgan Stanley boosted 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 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, MSCI presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $649.23.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 2,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $612.80 per share, for a total transaction of $1,777,120.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 330,379 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $202,456,251.20. This trade represents a 0.89 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

MSCI Stock Up 0.1 %

MSCI stock opened at $572.78 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $601.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $586.86. The company has a market cap of $44.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.74, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 1.11. MSCI Inc. has a 12-month low of $439.95 and a 12-month high of $642.45.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business earned $3.68 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. This is a boost from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.26%. MSCI’s payout ratio is presently 45.52%.

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.