Fiera Capital Corp Boosts Position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Fiera Capital Corp grew its holdings in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 4.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,148,615 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 49,679 shares during the quarter. MSCI accounts for 2.2% of Fiera Capital Corp’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position. Fiera Capital Corp’s holdings in MSCI were worth $689,180,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in MSCI. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc boosted its position in shares of MSCI by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc now owns 21,563 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $12,938,000 after buying an additional 598 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Inc. OK acquired a new position in MSCI during the 4th quarter worth approximately $269,000. Focus Financial Network Inc. purchased a new position in MSCI in the 4th quarter worth approximately $254,000. Summit Trail Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in MSCI by 31.7% in the 4th quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 1,067 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $640,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares during the period. Finally, Savant Capital LLC grew its position in MSCI by 56.7% in the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 550 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $330,000 after acquiring an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on MSCI. Morgan Stanley boosted 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. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded 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 research note on Wednesday, December 18th. UBS Group cut their price target on MSCI from $695.00 to $680.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $675.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $649.23.

Insider Buying and Selling

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, for a total transaction of $1,777,120.00. Following the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

MSCI Stock Down 0.9 %

NYSE:MSCI opened at $572.05 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $44.83 billion, a PE ratio of 40.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 1.11. The business’s 50 day moving average is $604.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $586.25. MSCI Inc. has a 52 week low of $439.95 and a 52 week high of $642.45.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 previous year, the firm earned $3.68 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $1.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.26%. MSCI’s payout ratio is 45.52%.

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.