Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. Has $2.64 Million Stock Holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its position in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 2.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,391 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc.’s holdings in MSCI were worth $2,635,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MSCI. LRI Investments LLC raised its holdings in MSCI by 120.0% in the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 44 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new stake in shares of MSCI in the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA acquired a new stake in MSCI during the 4th quarter worth $41,000. Private Trust Co. NA lifted its holdings in MSCI by 35.1% during the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 77 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Y.D. More Investments Ltd grew its stake in MSCI by 122.7% in the fourth quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 98 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 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, with a total value of $3,044,903.00. Following 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 represents a 0.42 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 3.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. 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 report on Wednesday, December 18th. 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 note on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $675.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of MSCI from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note 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 company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $649.23.

MSCI Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE MSCI opened at $571.25 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.19. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $582.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $588.83. MSCI Inc. has a 1 year low of $439.95 and a 1 year high of $642.45.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its earnings results 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 net margin of 38.83% and a negative return on equity of 156.08%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.68 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. This is an increase from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. MSCI’s payout ratio is currently 51.21%.

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.