Hartford Investment Management Co. Reduces Stock Position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Hartford Investment Management Co. decreased its holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,852 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 94 shares during the quarter. Hartford Investment Management Co.’s holdings in MSCI were worth $2,911,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MSCI. Capital Advisors Inc. OK purchased a new position in shares of MSCI in the fourth quarter valued at $269,000. Focus Financial Network Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI during the fourth quarter valued at $254,000. Summit Trail Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of MSCI by 31.7% during the fourth quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 1,067 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $640,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of MSCI by 56.7% during the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 550 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $330,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the period. Finally, Angeles Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of MSCI by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 492 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $295,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at MSCI

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 2,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $612.80 per share, for a total transaction of $1,777,120.00. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

MSCI Stock Down 0.9 %

MSCI stock opened at $572.05 on Thursday. MSCI Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $439.95 and a fifty-two week high of $642.45. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $604.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $586.25. The stock has a market cap of $44.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.69, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 1.11.

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, 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 period in the previous year, the company earned $3.68 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $1.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.26%. This is a boost from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. MSCI’s payout ratio is currently 45.52%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $675.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Wolfe Research upgraded MSCI from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average 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.