MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Shares Acquired by Ghe LLC

Ghe LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 3.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,670 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 198 shares during the period. MSCI accounts for approximately 1.3% of Ghe LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Ghe LLC’s holdings in MSCI were worth $3,305,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. LRI Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of MSCI by 120.0% during the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 44 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new stake in MSCI during the third quarter worth approximately $38,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in MSCI during the third quarter worth approximately $40,000. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA bought a new stake in MSCI during the fourth quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp raised its holdings in MSCI by 35.1% during the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 77 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on MSCI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $617.00 to $723.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. UBS Group dropped their price target on MSCI from $695.00 to $680.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays dropped their price target on MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $649.23.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 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, for a total transaction of $1,777,120.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 330,379 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $202,456,251.20. This trade represents a 0.89 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

MSCI Stock Up 0.8 %

MSCI stock opened at $578.71 on Monday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $596.24 and its 200-day simple moving average is $588.40. MSCI Inc. has a 12 month low of $439.95 and a 12 month high of $642.45. The stock has a market cap of $44.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.11.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.68 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $1.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.24%. 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.