KBC Group NV Increases Holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

KBC Group NV raised its holdings in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 12,471 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 263 shares during the period. KBC Group NV’s holdings in MSCI were worth $7,483,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new position in shares of MSCI during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,955,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in MSCI by 19.5% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,012 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $590,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of MSCI by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC now owns 441 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $265,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. B.O.S.S. Retirement Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of MSCI during the 4th quarter valued at about $961,000. Finally, Toth Financial Advisory Corp increased its position in shares of MSCI by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp now owns 884 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $530,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MSCI opened at $594.33 on Thursday. MSCI Inc. has a 52-week low of $439.95 and a 52-week high of $642.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.02, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 1.11. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $606.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $581.42.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.96 by $0.22. MSCI had a net margin of 43.06% and a negative return on equity of 162.06%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.68 EPS. Analysts forecast that MSCI Inc. will post 14.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 2,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $612.80 per share, for a total transaction of $1,777,120.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 330,379 shares in the company, valued at $202,456,251.20. The trade was a 0.89 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI began coverage on MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $690.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $617.00 to $723.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $680.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $638.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $649.85.

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.