MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) is Wilson Asset Management International PTY Ltd.’s 6th Largest Position

Wilson Asset Management International PTY Ltd. decreased its position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 25.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 31,232 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 10,551 shares during the period. MSCI accounts for 4.9% of Wilson Asset Management International PTY Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Wilson Asset Management International PTY Ltd.’s holdings in MSCI were worth $18,740,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in MSCI by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 452 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $264,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in MSCI by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,493,534 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $870,627,000 after acquiring an additional 37,340 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC purchased a new position in MSCI in the 3rd quarter worth $234,000. Covestor Ltd raised its stake in MSCI by 13.5% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 244 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $143,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Axxcess Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in MSCI by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 669 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $390,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Trading Down 0.5 %

MSCI stock opened at $542.79 on Wednesday. MSCI Inc. has a 12-month low of $439.95 and a 12-month high of $642.45. The stock has a market cap of $42.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.61, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.19. The business’s 50-day moving average is $587.78 and its 200 day moving average is $589.86.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last posted 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 period in the previous year, the business posted $3.68 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $1.80 dividend. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.33%. This is a boost from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. MSCI’s payout ratio is presently 51.21%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on MSCI shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $617.00 to $723.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Barclays reduced 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. Wolfe Research upgraded MSCI from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $649.23.

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.