Avestar Capital LLC Raises Holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Avestar Capital LLC lifted its holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 9.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 413 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the quarter. Avestar Capital LLC’s holdings in MSCI were worth $248,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Edgewood Management LLC boosted its position in shares of MSCI by 16.9% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted 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 in the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP grew its position in MSCI by 700.4% during the fourth quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 186,131 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $111,680,000 after buying an additional 162,877 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in 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 during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $56,101,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Price Performance

NYSE MSCI opened at $572.78 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $44.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 1.11. MSCI Inc. has a 12 month low of $439.95 and a 12 month high of $642.45. The company has a 50-day moving average of $601.53 and a 200-day moving average of $586.26.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 in the prior year, the company earned $3.68 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $1.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.52%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSCI has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group lowered their price target on MSCI from $695.00 to $680.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays cut their price target on MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $617.00 to $723.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, MSCI has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $649.23.

Insider Buying and Selling at MSCI

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 2,900 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $612.80 per share, with a total value of $1,777,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 330,379 shares in the company, valued at approximately $202,456,251.20. This represents a 0.89 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.