Vinva Investment Management Ltd Acquires 8,068 Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Vinva Investment Management Ltd lifted its holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 38.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 28,912 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,068 shares during the period. MSCI accounts for approximately 0.7% of Vinva Investment Management Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Vinva Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in MSCI were worth $17,337,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew 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 worth $870,627,000 after buying an additional 37,340 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in MSCI during the third quarter worth about $207,000. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in MSCI by 3.5% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 1,471 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $857,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC grew its position in MSCI by 4,032.2% during the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 3,595 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,096,000 after buying an additional 3,508 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wrapmanager Inc. grew its position in MSCI by 15.3% during the third quarter. Wrapmanager Inc. now owns 1,716 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,000,000 after buying an additional 228 shares in the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on MSCI. Barclays decreased their price objective on MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $675.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Wolfe Research raised MSCI from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $617.00 to $723.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $649.23.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 5,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $574.51 per share, with a total value of $3,044,903.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 1,269,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $729,599,549.01. This represents a 0.42 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of MSCI stock opened at $568.48 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $583.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $588.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.43, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.19. MSCI Inc. has a 52 week low of $439.95 and a 52 week high of $642.45.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its 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 net margin of 38.83% and a negative return on equity of 156.08%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.68 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $1.80 per share. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.21%.

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.