MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Shares Acquired by NEOS Investment Management LLC

NEOS Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 31.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,157 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 515 shares during the quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC’s holdings in MSCI were worth $1,294,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of MSCI by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,493,534 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $870,627,000 after acquiring an additional 37,340 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in MSCI by 32.1% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 107 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA increased its stake in MSCI by 35.1% in the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 77 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in MSCI by 0.4% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 51,116 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,797,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its position in shares of MSCI by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 30,233 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $17,624,000 after buying an additional 949 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at MSCI

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 5,300 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $574.51 per share, for a total transaction of $3,044,903.00. Following the completion of the purchase, 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 ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 3.31% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Price Performance

NYSE:MSCI opened at $558.03 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $43.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.19. MSCI Inc. has a 1-year low of $439.95 and a 1-year high of $642.45. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $578.82 and its 200 day moving average price is $588.73.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 earnings per share (EPS) 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 last year, the business earned $3.68 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $1.80 dividend. This is a boost from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.21%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on MSCI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $675.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $617.00 to $723.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of MSCI from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $649.23.

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.