Sava Infond d.o.o. Acquires New Holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Sava Infond d.o.o. acquired a new position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 1,100 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $660,000.

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

MSCI Stock Down 0.9 %

MSCI stock opened at $569.35 on Thursday. 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 $44.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.19. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $580.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $588.71.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 earnings per share 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 last year, the company posted $3.68 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $1.80 per share. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.21%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MSCI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of MSCI from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $675.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $649.23.

Insider Buying and Selling at MSCI

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 5,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were bought at an average cost 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 directly owns 1,269,951 shares in the company, valued at approximately $729,599,549.01. This represents a 0.42 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed 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.