Huntington National Bank Has $437,000 Holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Huntington National Bank raised its stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 90.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 728 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 346 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank’s holdings in MSCI were worth $437,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. LRI Investments LLC increased its stake in MSCI by 120.0% during the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 44 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the period. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA acquired a new position in shares of MSCI in the fourth quarter valued at $41,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd lifted its position in MSCI by 122.7% in the fourth quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 98 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. Picton Mahoney Asset Management acquired a new stake in MSCI during the fourth quarter worth $60,000. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA increased its holdings in MSCI by 46.8% in the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 113 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $68,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the period. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at MSCI

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 5,300 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were purchased 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 in the company, valued at approximately $729,599,549.01. This represents a 0.42 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 3.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MSCI. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $617.00 to $723.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Barclays lowered their price objective on MSCI from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $675.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $647.31.

MSCI Stock Performance

NYSE MSCI opened at $507.57 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.30. MSCI Inc. has a 52 week low of $439.95 and a 52 week high of $642.45. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $572.46 and a 200-day moving average of $588.18.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced 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 negative return on equity of 156.08% and a net margin of 38.83%. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.68 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast 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 issued a $1.80 dividend. This is a positive change from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. MSCI’s dividend 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.