Sei Investments Co. Purchases 5,399 Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Sei Investments Co. raised its position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 3.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 179,045 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 5,399 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co.’s holdings in MSCI were worth $107,429,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of MSCI in the fourth quarter worth $185,003,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in MSCI in the 4th quarter valued at $126,082,000. Canoe Financial LP increased its stake in 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 buying an additional 162,877 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Funds Management LTD acquired a new position in shares of MSCI during the 4th quarter worth about $82,722,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 119,471 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 5,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $574.51 per share, for a total transaction of $3,044,903.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,269,951 shares in the company, valued at $729,599,549.01. The trade was a 0.42 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE MSCI opened at $562.98 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $43.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.19. The business’s 50 day moving average is $581.93 and its 200-day moving average is $588.65. MSCI Inc. has a 1-year low of $439.95 and a 1-year high of $642.45.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.68 EPS. Analysts forecast that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on MSCI shares. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $675.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $617.00 to $723.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MSCI currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.