MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Stock Holdings Lifted by Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P.

Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its position in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 5.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 64,475 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 3,220 shares during the quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P.’s holdings in MSCI were worth $38,685,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Atomi Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in MSCI in the third quarter worth $299,000. CWM LLC grew its holdings in MSCI by 50.3% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,818 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,226,000 after purchasing an additional 1,278 shares during the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 7.5% during the 3rd quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 1,170 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $684,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in MSCI by 52.7% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 171 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $100,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LVW Advisors LLC raised its holdings in MSCI by 41.6% in the 3rd quarter. LVW Advisors LLC now owns 1,402 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $817,000 after acquiring an additional 412 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 2,900 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $612.80 per share, for a total transaction of $1,777,120.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 330,379 shares in the company, valued at approximately $202,456,251.20. This represents a 0.89 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

MSCI Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MSCI opened at $579.13 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $605.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $585.04. MSCI Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $439.95 and a fifty-two week high of $642.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 1.11.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last posted its earnings results 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 period last year, the business posted $3.68 EPS. Research analysts expect that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.80 per share. This is a positive change from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.24%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.52%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley raised 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. Barclays dropped their price target on MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $675.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of MSCI from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Four 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, MSCI currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $649.23.

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.