MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Stock Holdings Increased by NS Partners Ltd

NS Partners Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 2.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 76,631 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,910 shares during the quarter. MSCI makes up approximately 1.9% of NS Partners Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. NS Partners Ltd’s holdings in MSCI were worth $45,979,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Edgewood Management LLC lifted its holdings 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 valued at $1,279,904,000 after acquiring an additional 318,214 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in MSCI during the 4th quarter worth about $185,003,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of MSCI during the 4th quarter worth about $126,082,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in shares of MSCI by 14.3% during the 3rd 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 period. Finally, Canoe Financial LP grew its position 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 period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MSCI shares. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $675.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced 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. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $617.00 to $723.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, MSCI currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $649.23.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 5,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $574.51 per share, with a total value 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of MSCI opened at $562.01 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $590.02 and a 200-day moving average price of $589.82. MSCI Inc. has a 12 month low of $439.95 and a 12 month high of $642.45. The firm has a market cap of $43.64 billion, a PE ratio of 39.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.19.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 in the previous year, the firm posted $3.68 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.21%.

MSCI 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.