National Pension Service Has $97.96 Million Position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

National Pension Service reduced its holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 6.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 163,255 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 10,623 shares during the period. National Pension Service owned approximately 0.21% of MSCI worth $97,955,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. LRI Investments LLC increased its position in MSCI by 120.0% in the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 44 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new position in MSCI in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in MSCI in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $40,000. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA bought a new position in MSCI in the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp increased its position in MSCI by 35.1% in the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 77 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

MSCI Price Performance

MSCI stock opened at $579.16 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $594.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $588.98. MSCI Inc. has a 52-week low of $439.95 and a 52-week high of $642.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 quarter last year, the company earned $3.68 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $1.80 per share. This is a positive change from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.21%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on MSCI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target 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 lowered their price objective on MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $675.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on MSCI from $695.00 to $680.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $649.23.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 5,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were bought at an average price of $574.51 per share, for a total transaction of $3,044,903.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 1,269,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $729,599,549.01. This trade represents a 0.42 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

About MSCI

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.