Allstate Corp Purchases New Position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Allstate Corp purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 2,325 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,395,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. DnB Asset Management AS grew its stake in shares of MSCI by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. DnB Asset Management AS now owns 13,322 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $7,993,000 after acquiring an additional 239 shares in the last quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in MSCI by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC now owns 9,585 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $5,751,000 after purchasing an additional 633 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its position in MSCI by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 37,352 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $22,412,000 after purchasing an additional 483 shares in the last quarter. AKO Capital LLP increased its stake in MSCI by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. AKO Capital LLP now owns 208,903 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $125,344,000 after buying an additional 2,807 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of MSCI during the 4th quarter worth approximately $609,937,000. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 5,300 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 1,269,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $729,599,549.01. This represents a 0.42 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 3.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on MSCI shares. 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 report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $675.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $617.00 to $723.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $649.23.

MSCI Trading Down 1.4 %

NYSE:MSCI opened at $558.03 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $578.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $588.92. The stock has a market cap of $43.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.19. MSCI Inc. has a 12 month low of $439.95 and a 12 month high of $642.45.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 earnings per share (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 period in the prior year, the company earned $3.68 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. 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. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.29%. MSCI’s payout ratio is currently 51.21%.

MSCI 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.