MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Shares Bought by Ritholtz Wealth Management

Ritholtz Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 5.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 659 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 36 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in MSCI were worth $395,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. HWG Holdings LP acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI in the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. LRI Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of MSCI by 120.0% in 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 last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new stake in MSCI during the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of MSCI in the 3rd quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp boosted its position in MSCI by 35.1% during the 3rd 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 period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $680.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on MSCI from $680.00 to $700.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on MSCI from $570.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $617.00 to $723.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $638.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, MSCI currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $649.85.

Insider Transactions at MSCI

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 2,900 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were acquired 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 directly owns 330,379 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $202,456,251.20. The trade was a 0.89 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of MSCI stock opened at $617.34 on Wednesday. MSCI Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $439.95 and a fifty-two week high of $642.45. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $604.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $576.09. The company has a market cap of $48.38 billion, a PE ratio of 40.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 1.11.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The technology company reported $3.86 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.77 by $0.09. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 162.06% and a net margin of 43.06%. The firm had revenue of $724.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $716.15 million. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.45 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that MSCI Inc. will post 14.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were given a $1.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.04%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.02%.

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.