Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC Acquires 159 Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 4.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,993 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the quarter. MSCI accounts for 1.5% of Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 15th largest position. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC’s holdings in MSCI were worth $2,396,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Edgewood Management LLC increased its stake in MSCI by 16.9% in 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. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of MSCI by 14.3% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,587,723 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $925,531,000 after purchasing an additional 198,666 shares during the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP increased its stake in shares of MSCI by 700.4% in the 4th quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 186,131 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $111,680,000 after purchasing an additional 162,877 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Funds Management LTD bought a new position in shares of MSCI in the 4th quarter valued at $82,722,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of MSCI by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,613,005 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $967,820,000 after purchasing an additional 119,471 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Trading Up 1.9 %

NYSE MSCI opened at $584.55 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $594.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $589.05. 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 $45.39 billion, a PE ratio of 41.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.11.

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 period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.68 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $1.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.23%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.21%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on MSCI. Wolfe Research upgraded MSCI from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $617.00 to $723.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of MSCI from $695.00 to $680.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $649.23.

Insider Transactions at MSCI

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 5,300 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $574.51 per share, for a total transaction of $3,044,903.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 1,269,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $729,599,549.01. This trade represents a 0.42 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

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.