KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Makes New $15.96 Million Investment in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 26,600 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,960,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp increased its holdings in MSCI by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,192,364 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,860,925,000 after purchasing an additional 11,351 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in MSCI by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,862,362 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,082,594,000 after purchasing an additional 13,691 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of MSCI by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,613,005 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $967,820,000 after acquiring an additional 119,471 shares in the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp grew its position in shares of MSCI by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 1,148,615 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $689,180,000 after acquiring an additional 49,679 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PineStone Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of MSCI by 17.4% in the 4th quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 569,374 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $341,630,000 after acquiring an additional 84,354 shares in the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 5,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were bought at an average price of $574.51 per share, with a total value of $3,044,903.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 1,269,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $729,599,549.01. This represents a 0.42 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of MSCI stock opened at $562.98 on Monday. MSCI Inc. has a 1 year low of $439.95 and a 1 year high of $642.45. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $581.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of $588.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.72 billion, a PE ratio of 40.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.19.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm posted $3.68 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $1.80 per share. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. MSCI’s payout ratio is 51.21%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on MSCI. Barclays decreased their target price on MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $675.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Wolfe Research upgraded MSCI from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $617.00 to $723.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, MSCI presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $649.23.

MSCI 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.