Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Acquires 483 Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its holdings in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 37,352 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 483 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in MSCI were worth $22,412,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MSCI. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in MSCI by 30.9% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 174,982 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $104,991,000 after purchasing an additional 41,346 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of MSCI by 4.5% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 536,211 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $312,574,000 after acquiring an additional 23,050 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC boosted its position in shares of MSCI by 176.2% in the third quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 1,580 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $921,000 after acquiring an additional 1,008 shares during the period. Nvwm LLC increased its holdings in MSCI by 3,581.3% during the 4th quarter. Nvwm LLC now owns 1,767 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,060,000 after acquiring an additional 1,719 shares during the period. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in MSCI by 76.3% in the 4th quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 2,992 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,795,000 after purchasing an additional 1,295 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Trading Up 1.3 %

MSCI opened at $565.66 on Tuesday. MSCI Inc. has a 12 month low of $439.95 and a 12 month high of $642.45. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $577.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $588.96. The company has a market cap of $43.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.23, a P/E/G 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 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 period in the previous year, the company posted $3.68 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The company 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. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.27%. This is a boost from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.21%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 5,300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $574.51 per share, with a total value of $3,044,903.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,269,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $729,599,549.01. This trade represents a 0.42 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 3.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on MSCI shares. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of 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 reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $675.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Wolfe Research raised MSCI from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $617.00 to $723.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given 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 price target of $649.23.

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.