MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Shares Acquired by Empowered Funds LLC

Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 26.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,861 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 390 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in MSCI were worth $1,117,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Arlington Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of MSCI during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $210,000. Apollon Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of MSCI by 45.1% during the fourth quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,012 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,007,000 after purchasing an additional 1,559 shares in the last quarter. EULAV Asset Management raised its stake in MSCI by 8.2% in the 4th quarter. EULAV Asset Management now owns 203,958 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $122,377,000 after purchasing an additional 15,501 shares during the last quarter. Dock Street Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in MSCI by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Dock Street Asset Management Inc. now owns 39,346 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $23,608,000 after purchasing an additional 405 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its stake in MSCI by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 17,608 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $10,565,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MSCI Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:MSCI opened at $572.78 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $44.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.74, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 1.11. MSCI Inc. has a 12-month low of $439.95 and a 12-month high of $642.45. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $601.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $586.54.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 in the previous year, the firm earned $3.68 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $1.80 dividend. This is a positive change from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.26%. MSCI’s payout ratio is presently 51.21%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MSCI. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $675.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a report on Thursday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $617.00 to $723.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Barclays dropped their price target on MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded MSCI from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $649.23.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 2,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $612.80 per share, for a total transaction of $1,777,120.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 330,379 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $202,456,251.20. This trade represents a 0.89 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 3.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.