United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund Purchases 23,649 Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund raised its stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 43.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 78,111 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 23,649 shares during the quarter. MSCI accounts for about 1.8% of United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund owned approximately 0.10% of MSCI worth $46,867,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new stake in MSCI in the fourth quarter worth about $176,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp increased its holdings in shares of MSCI by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 69,095 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $41,458,000 after purchasing an additional 3,235 shares during the period. EFG Asset Management North America Corp. boosted its position in shares of MSCI by 57.1% during the 4th quarter. EFG Asset Management North America Corp. now owns 2,921 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,753,000 after acquiring an additional 1,062 shares during the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. grew its stake in MSCI by 77.7% in the 4th quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 213,423 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $128,056,000 after buying an additional 93,337 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stevens Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of MSCI in the 4th quarter worth about $794,000. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $675.00 price target on shares of MSCI 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 company from $617.00 to $723.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Wolfe Research raised MSCI from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MSCI presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $649.23.

MSCI Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of MSCI stock opened at $575.38 on Wednesday. MSCI Inc. has a 12 month low of $439.95 and a 12 month high of $642.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.19. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $581.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $588.84.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 company earned $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. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $1.80 dividend. This is a boost from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.21%.

Insider Transactions at MSCI

In other news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 5,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $574.51 per share, for a total transaction of $3,044,903.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,269,951 shares in the company, valued at approximately $729,599,549.01. The trade was a 0.42 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 3.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.