MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Shares Purchased by Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC

Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 5.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 441 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC’s holdings in MSCI were worth $265,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MSCI. Edgewood Management LLC increased its position in MSCI by 16.9% during the 3rd quarter. Edgewood Management LLC now owns 2,195,639 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,279,904,000 after purchasing an additional 318,214 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in MSCI by 14.3% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,587,723 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $925,531,000 after acquiring an additional 198,666 shares during the period. Canoe Financial LP boosted its holdings in MSCI by 700.4% in the 4th quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 186,131 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $111,680,000 after acquiring an additional 162,877 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in MSCI by 358.3% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 133,636 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $77,900,000 after acquiring an additional 104,474 shares during the period. Finally, Champlain Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in MSCI in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $56,101,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on MSCI from $680.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley raised their price target 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. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $638.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of MSCI from $570.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $617.00 to $723.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $649.85.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 2,900 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $612.80 per share, with a total value 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 $202,456,251.20. This trade represents a 0.89 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of MSCI opened at $594.33 on Thursday. MSCI Inc. has a 1 year low of $439.95 and a 1 year high of $642.45. The company has a market cap of $46.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 1.11. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $606.56 and a 200-day moving average of $581.42.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.96 by $0.22. MSCI had a net margin of 43.06% and a negative return on equity of 162.06%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.68 earnings per share. Analysts predict that MSCI Inc. will post 14.99 EPS for the current year.

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.