MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Shares Acquired by TD Private Client Wealth LLC

TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 34.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,307 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,092 shares during the period. TD Private Client Wealth LLC’s holdings in MSCI were worth $2,584,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in MSCI. Edgewood Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of MSCI by 16.9% during the third quarter. Edgewood Management LLC now owns 2,195,639 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,279,904,000 after acquiring an additional 318,214 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI during the fourth quarter valued at $185,003,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in MSCI during the fourth quarter worth about $126,082,000. Canoe Financial LP lifted its position in MSCI by 700.4% during the fourth quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 186,131 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $111,680,000 after buying an additional 162,877 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Funds Management LTD purchased a new position in MSCI during the fourth quarter worth about $82,722,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at MSCI

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 5,300 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,269,951 shares in the company, valued at $729,599,549.01. This trade represents a 0.42 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MSCI opened at $562.98 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $43.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.04, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.19. MSCI Inc. has a one year low of $439.95 and a one year high of $642.45. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $581.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $588.55.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 EPS 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 company posted $3.68 EPS. Analysts predict that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $1.80 per share. This is an increase from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.21%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on MSCI shares. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Wolfe Research upgraded MSCI from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays reduced their target price on MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $617.00 to $723.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $649.23.

MSCI Company 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.