MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Holdings Raised by Moran Wealth Management LLC

Moran Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 2.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,574 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 451 shares during the period. Moran Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in MSCI were worth $12,345,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. LRI Investments LLC grew its stake in MSCI by 120.0% in the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 44 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new position in MSCI during the third quarter valued at about $38,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI in the third quarter worth about $40,000. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA bought a new stake in shares of MSCI during the 4th quarter worth $41,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp grew its position in shares of MSCI by 35.1% in the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 77 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 5,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was bought at an average price of $574.51 per share, for a total transaction 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 $729,599,549.01. The trade was a 0.42 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MSCI opened at $562.01 on Monday. MSCI Inc. has a one year low of $439.95 and a one year high of $642.45. The company has a market cap of $43.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.97, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.19. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $590.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $590.20.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last released its earnings results 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 net margin of 38.83% and a negative return on equity of 156.08%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.68 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $1.80 per share. 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 dividend yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.21%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MSCI. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of 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 research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Barclays decreased their price target on MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $675.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the 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.