Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Has $22.21 Million Stock Position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lessened its holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 37,021 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 1,080 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in MSCI were worth $22,213,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Edgewood Management LLC lifted its stake in MSCI by 16.9% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of 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 lifted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 162,877 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Funds Management LTD acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI during the 4th quarter valued at $82,722,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in MSCI by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,613,005 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $967,820,000 after acquiring an additional 119,471 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 5,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $574.51 per share, with a total value of $3,044,903.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,269,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $729,599,549.01. The trade was a 0.42 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on MSCI. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $675.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of 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 raised shares of MSCI from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays dropped their price target 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. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of MSCI from $695.00 to $680.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MSCI currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $649.23.

MSCI Stock Down 0.9 %

NYSE MSCI opened at $579.16 on Thursday. MSCI Inc. has a 52 week low of $439.95 and a 52 week high of $642.45. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $594.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $588.98. The company has a market cap of $44.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.11.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last released 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 net margin of 38.83% and a negative return on equity of 156.08%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.68 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $1.80 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.24%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.