Weaver Capital Management LLC Acquires 21 Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Weaver Capital Management LLC increased its stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 3.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 712 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC’s holdings in MSCI were worth $427,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Edgewood Management LLC raised its position in shares of MSCI by 16.9% during the third quarter. Edgewood Management LLC now owns 2,195,639 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,279,904,000 after purchasing an additional 318,214 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in MSCI by 14.3% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,587,723 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $925,531,000 after buying an additional 198,666 shares during the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP lifted its stake in shares of MSCI by 700.4% in the fourth quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 186,131 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $111,680,000 after buying an additional 162,877 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of MSCI by 358.3% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 133,636 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $77,900,000 after buying an additional 104,474 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Champlain Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI in the 3rd quarter worth about $56,101,000. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 2,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $612.80 per share, for a total transaction of $1,777,120.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 330,379 shares in the company, valued at approximately $202,456,251.20. The trade was a 0.89 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of MSCI opened at $584.69 on Wednesday. MSCI Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $439.95 and a fifty-two week high of $642.45. The firm has a market cap of $45.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.59, a PEG ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 1.11. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $606.94 and a 200-day moving average price of $583.91.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 last year, the business earned $3.68 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that MSCI Inc. will post 16.85 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.23%. This is an increase from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. MSCI’s payout ratio is presently 45.52%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Redburn Atlantic upgraded MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $680.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on MSCI from $570.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $617.00 to $723.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $675.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Barclays reduced 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MSCI has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $649.23.

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.