Rathbones Group PLC Raises Stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Rathbones Group PLC grew its stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 3.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 59,741 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,123 shares during the period. Rathbones Group PLC owned about 0.08% of MSCI worth $35,845,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MSCI. LRI Investments LLC lifted its holdings in MSCI by 120.0% in the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 44 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA purchased a new position in MSCI in the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd grew its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $60,000. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA increased its holdings in shares of MSCI by 46.8% in the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 113 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $68,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MSCI Price Performance

Shares of MSCI stock opened at $507.57 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $39.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.10, a PEG 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 firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $572.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $588.66.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last posted its 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.68 earnings per share. Analysts expect that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 an increase 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%.

Insider Buying and Selling at MSCI

In other MSCI 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, with a total value of $3,044,903.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,269,951 shares in the company, valued at approximately $729,599,549.01. This trade represents a 0.42 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 3.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on MSCI. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $675.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised 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. 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, MSCI has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $647.31.

MSCI Company 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.