Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Sells 1,080 Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lessened its position in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 37,021 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 1,080 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in MSCI were worth $22,213,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MSCI. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its holdings in MSCI by 15.8% in the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 945 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $551,000 after buying an additional 129 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of MSCI by 19,331.1% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 26,232 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $15,291,000 after purchasing an additional 26,097 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in MSCI by 17.8% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 4,995 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,878,000 after purchasing an additional 756 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in MSCI by 16.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,878 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,261,000 after purchasing an additional 547 shares during the period. Finally, Pallas Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in MSCI by 65.8% during the 3rd quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,419 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,428,000 after buying an additional 960 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $617.00 to $723.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of MSCI from $695.00 to $680.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on 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 price target on MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $649.23.

Insider Activity at MSCI

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 2,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was bought at an average price of $612.80 per share, with a total value of $1,777,120.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 330,379 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $202,456,251.20. The trade was a 0.89 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

MSCI Price Performance

Shares of MSCI stock opened at $579.16 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $594.42 and a 200 day moving average of $588.98. MSCI Inc. has a 1-year low of $439.95 and a 1-year high of $642.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.97 billion, a PE ratio of 41.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.11.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 earnings per share (EPS) 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 in the previous year, the business earned $3.68 EPS. Analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.