13,537 Shares in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Bought by Lbp Am Sa

Lbp Am Sa bought a new stake in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 13,537 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,122,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of MSCI by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,192,364 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,860,925,000 after acquiring an additional 11,351 shares during the last quarter. Edgewood Management LLC raised its stake in MSCI by 16.9% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in MSCI by 0.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,862,362 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,082,594,000 after purchasing an additional 13,691 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of MSCI by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,613,005 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $967,820,000 after buying an additional 119,471 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of MSCI by 14.3% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

MSCI Price Performance

MSCI stock opened at $554.92 on Friday. MSCI Inc. has a 12 month low of $439.95 and a 12 month high of $642.45. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $584.61 and its 200 day moving average is $589.06. The company has a market capitalization of $43.09 billion, a PE ratio of 39.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.19.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 EPS 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 last year, the firm earned $3.68 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $1.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.30%. MSCI’s payout ratio is 51.21%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on MSCI shares. Wolfe Research raised shares of MSCI from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $617.00 to $723.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $675.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $649.23.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 5,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $574.51 per share, for a total transaction of $3,044,903.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly 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 acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

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.