UniSuper Management Pty Ltd Raises Stock Holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

UniSuper Management Pty Ltd raised its position in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 22.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,319 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,161 shares during the quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd’s holdings in MSCI were worth $3,791,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of MSCI by 2.6% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,493,534 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $870,627,000 after purchasing an additional 37,340 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its position in MSCI by 32.1% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 107 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA raised its stake in shares of MSCI by 35.1% during the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 77 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Qsemble Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of MSCI in the 3rd quarter valued at about $210,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in shares of MSCI by 0.4% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 51,116 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,797,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 5,300 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $574.51 per share, with a total value of $3,044,903.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 1,269,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $729,599,549.01. The trade was a 0.42 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 3.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSCI has been the subject of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Wolfe Research raised shares of MSCI from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays cut their price target on MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $675.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MSCI has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $649.23.

MSCI Stock Performance

NYSE MSCI opened at $558.03 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $578.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $588.55. The company has a market cap of $43.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.69, a P/E/G 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.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last posted its quarterly 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 period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.68 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $1.80 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.29%. This is an increase from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.21%.

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.