Stephens Inc. AR Decreases Stock Position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Stephens Inc. AR decreased its position in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,268 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 35 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in MSCI were worth $1,961,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MSCI. State Street Corp grew its holdings in MSCI by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,192,364 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,860,925,000 after buying an additional 11,351 shares in the last quarter. Edgewood Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 318,214 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in MSCI by 0.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,862,362 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,082,594,000 after purchasing an additional 13,691 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake 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 valued at $925,531,000 after purchasing an additional 198,666 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in MSCI by 2.6% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,493,534 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $870,627,000 after purchasing an additional 37,340 shares during the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 2,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $612.80 per share, for a total transaction of $1,777,120.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 330,379 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $202,456,251.20. This trade represents a 0.89 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on MSCI shares. 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. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $617.00 to $723.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $649.23.

MSCI Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:MSCI opened at $577.72 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $604.66 and its 200 day moving average is $585.99. The stock has a market cap of $45.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 1.11. MSCI Inc. has a 52-week low of $439.95 and a 52-week high of $642.45.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its quarterly 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 quarter last year, the company earned $3.68 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.21%.

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.