Mariner LLC Has $11.89 Million Stock Holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Mariner LLC increased its holdings in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 2.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 19,824 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 492 shares during the period. Mariner LLC’s holdings in MSCI were worth $11,894,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MSCI. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA bought a new stake in shares of MSCI in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd raised its stake in MSCI by 122.7% during the fourth quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 98 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI in the 4th quarter valued at $60,000. Private Trust Co. NA grew its holdings in shares of MSCI by 46.8% in the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 113 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $68,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in MSCI by 21.9% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 117 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MSCI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of MSCI from $680.00 to $650.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Bank of America began coverage on MSCI in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $585.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays cut their price target on MSCI from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $675.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of MSCI from $532.00 to $530.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $643.92.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 5,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were acquired 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. The trade was a 0.42 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $524.25, for a total transaction of $2,621,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 294,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $154,542,084.75. The trade was a 1.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

MSCI Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of MSCI opened at $546.73 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $42.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.30. MSCI Inc. has a 1 year low of $439.95 and a 1 year high of $642.45. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $559.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $585.92.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 38.83% and a negative return on equity of 156.08%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.68 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 EPS for the current 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 given a $1.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.32%. This is a boost from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. MSCI’s dividend 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.