MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Shares Acquired by EFG Asset Management North America Corp.

EFG Asset Management North America Corp. increased its stake in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 57.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,921 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,062 shares during the period. EFG Asset Management North America Corp.’s holdings in MSCI were worth $1,753,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MSCI. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in MSCI in the fourth quarter valued at about $185,003,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of MSCI in the 4th quarter valued at about $126,082,000. Canoe Financial LP grew its holdings in shares of MSCI by 700.4% during the fourth quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 186,131 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $111,680,000 after purchasing an additional 162,877 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Funds Management LTD bought a new position in shares of MSCI during the fourth quarter worth about $82,722,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of MSCI by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,613,005 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $967,820,000 after purchasing an additional 119,471 shares during the period. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $675.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $617.00 to $723.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, MSCI currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $649.23.

Insider Transactions at MSCI

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 5,300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were bought at an average cost 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 in the company, valued at approximately $729,599,549.01. This trade represents a 0.42 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 3.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

MSCI Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of MSCI stock opened at $575.38 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $581.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $588.84. MSCI Inc. has a 12 month low of $439.95 and a 12 month high of $642.45. The company has a market cap of $44.68 billion, a PE ratio of 40.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.19.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 in the prior year, the business posted $3.68 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $1.80 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.25%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.21%.

About MSCI

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.