Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. Buys 8,919 Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its stake in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 19.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 54,469 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,919 shares during the quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V.’s holdings in MSCI were worth $32,682,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. LRI Investments LLC raised its holdings in MSCI by 120.0% during the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 44 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI during the third quarter worth $38,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI during the third quarter worth $40,000. Planning Capital Management Corp raised its stake in MSCI by 35.1% during the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 77 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA boosted its position in MSCI by 35.1% during the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 77 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 2,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $612.80 per share, with a total value of $1,777,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 330,379 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $202,456,251.20. This represents a 0.89 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MSCI. Barclays lowered their price objective on MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group dropped their price target on MSCI from $695.00 to $680.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $680.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $675.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Four investment 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 stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $649.23.

MSCI Price Performance

MSCI opened at $590.36 on Friday. MSCI Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $439.95 and a fifty-two week high of $642.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.76, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 1.11. The company’s 50-day moving average is $606.80 and its 200 day moving average is $581.51.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its quarterly 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 negative return on equity of 162.06% and a net margin of 43.06%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.68 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that MSCI Inc. will post 14.99 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $1.80 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.22%. This is a positive change from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.21%.

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.