4,690 Shares in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Purchased by OFI Invest Asset Management

OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 4,690 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,718,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. LRI Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of MSCI by 120.0% during the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 44 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI during the third quarter worth $38,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of MSCI in the third quarter valued at about $40,000. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA acquired a new position in shares of MSCI in the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp increased its position in MSCI by 35.1% during the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 77 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

MSCI Price Performance

Shares of MSCI stock opened at $562.01 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $590.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $590.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.19. MSCI Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $439.95 and a fifty-two week high of $642.45.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter last year, the company posted $3.68 EPS. On average, analysts expect that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $1.80 dividend. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.21%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 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 directly owns 1,269,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $729,599,549.01. This trade represents a 0.42 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.