MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Stock Position Lifted by Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P.

Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 5.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 64,475 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,220 shares during the quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. owned approximately 0.08% of MSCI worth $38,685,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of MSCI by 0.9% during the third quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 1,968 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,147,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC raised its stake in MSCI by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 418 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $251,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in MSCI by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 2,044 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,227,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp boosted its stake in MSCI by 35.1% in the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 77 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA boosted its stake in MSCI by 35.1% in the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 77 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 2,900 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $612.80 per share, with a total value of $1,777,120.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 330,379 shares in the company, valued at approximately $202,456,251.20. This trade represents a 0.89 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MSCI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of MSCI from $695.00 to $680.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of MSCI from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $675.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $649.23.

MSCI Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MSCI opened at $579.13 on Friday. MSCI Inc. has a 12 month low of $439.95 and a 12 month high of $642.45. The stock has a market cap of $45.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.19, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 1.11. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $605.17 and its 200 day moving average price is $585.04.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 quarter last year, the company earned $3.68 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors 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 positive change 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 is currently 45.52%.

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.