MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Shares Purchased by World Equity Group Inc.

World Equity Group Inc. lifted its stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 106.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,264 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 651 shares during the quarter. World Equity Group Inc.’s holdings in MSCI were worth $758,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp increased its stake 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 buying an additional 11,351 shares during the period. Edgewood Management LLC increased its stake in MSCI by 16.9% during the 3rd quarter. Edgewood Management LLC now owns 2,195,639 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,279,904,000 after buying an additional 318,214 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake 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 buying an additional 13,691 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in MSCI by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,613,005 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $967,820,000 after buying an additional 119,471 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in MSCI by 14.3% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,587,723 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $925,531,000 after buying an additional 198,666 shares during the period. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MSCI Price Performance

NYSE MSCI opened at $578.71 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $596.24 and its 200 day moving average price is $588.40. The company has a market capitalization of $44.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.11. MSCI Inc. has a 12 month low of $439.95 and a 12 month high of $642.45.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.68 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.24%. This is a positive change from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.21%.

Insider Activity at MSCI

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on MSCI. Wolfe Research raised shares of MSCI from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $675.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Barclays dropped 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MSCI currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.