OFI Invest Asset Management Acquires Shares of 4,690 MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 4,690 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,718,000.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MSCI. Coalescence Partners Investment Management LP lifted its position in MSCI by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Coalescence Partners Investment Management LP now owns 35,690 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $21,414,000 after purchasing an additional 2,676 shares during the period. Amundi lifted its holdings in MSCI by 7.9% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 468,242 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $281,989,000 after buying an additional 34,094 shares during the period. Permanent Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in MSCI during the 4th quarter worth $382,000. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC grew its holdings in MSCI by 26.7% during the 4th quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 569 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $341,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the period. Finally, NS Partners Ltd raised its position in shares of MSCI by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. NS Partners Ltd now owns 76,631 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $45,979,000 after acquiring an additional 1,910 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 5,300 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was acquired 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 position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on MSCI. Barclays decreased their price objective on MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 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 report on Thursday, January 30th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of MSCI from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Three equities research 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, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $649.23.

MSCI Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of MSCI stock opened at $562.01 on Friday. MSCI Inc. has a 12 month low of $439.95 and a 12 month high of $642.45. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $590.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $590.00. The firm has a market cap of $43.64 billion, a PE ratio of 39.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.19.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.68 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict 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 was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $1.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.28%. This is a boost from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.21%.

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.