MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Shares Purchased by Park Avenue Securities LLC

Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 9.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,121 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 263 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in MSCI were worth $1,873,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MSCI. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC increased its holdings in MSCI by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 1,968 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,147,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of MSCI by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 418 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $251,000 after buying an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp raised its holdings in shares of MSCI by 35.1% during the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 77 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA raised its holdings in MSCI by 35.1% during the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 77 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in MSCI by 3.1% in the third quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 732 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $427,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at MSCI

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 2,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 purchase, 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 ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of MSCI stock opened at $612.25 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $603.93 and a 200-day moving average of $574.07. MSCI Inc. has a 12-month low of $439.95 and a 12-month high of $642.45. The company has a market capitalization of $47.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.11.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The technology company reported $3.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.77 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $724.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $716.15 million. MSCI had a net margin of 43.06% and a negative return on equity of 162.06%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.45 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that MSCI Inc. will post 14.99 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were paid a $1.60 dividend. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.05%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.02%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $617.00 to $723.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective 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. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of MSCI from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $690.00 target price on the stock. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $645.67.

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.