Lbp Am Sa Makes New Investment in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Lbp Am Sa purchased a new stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 13,537 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,122,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MSCI. CWA Asset Management Group LLC grew its stake in MSCI by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 418 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $251,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 492 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $295,000 after buying an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of MSCI by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 2,044 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,227,000 after buying an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp raised its stake in shares of MSCI by 35.1% during the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 77 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA lifted 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.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on MSCI. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $617.00 to $723.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Barclays dropped their target price on MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $675.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” 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, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $649.23.

MSCI Price Performance

Shares of MSCI stock opened at $554.92 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $43.09 billion, a PE ratio of 39.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.19. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $584.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $589.06. MSCI Inc. has a 1 year low of $439.95 and a 1 year high of $642.45.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.96 by $0.22. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 156.08% and a net margin of 38.83%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.68 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a $1.80 dividend. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.30%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.21%.

Insider Transactions at MSCI

In other news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 5,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $574.51 per share, for a total transaction of $3,044,903.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,269,951 shares in the company, valued at approximately $729,599,549.01. The trade was a 0.42 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

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.