MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Stock Position Raised by WealthBridge Investment Counsel Inc.

WealthBridge Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 5.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,037 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 100 shares during the quarter. WealthBridge Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in MSCI were worth $1,222,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. HB Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in MSCI by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,377 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $826,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC raised its holdings in shares of MSCI by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 1,087 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $652,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI in the 4th quarter valued at $230,000. Canoe Financial LP boosted its holdings in MSCI by 700.4% in the fourth quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 186,131 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $111,680,000 after purchasing an additional 162,877 shares in the last quarter. Finally, B & T Capital Management DBA Alpha Capital Management increased its position in MSCI by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. B & T Capital Management DBA Alpha Capital Management now owns 7,292 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $4,375,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 2,900 shares of the company’s 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 acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 330,379 shares in the company, valued at approximately $202,456,251.20. This represents a 0.89 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSCI has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wolfe Research raised MSCI from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $617.00 to $723.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of MSCI from $695.00 to $680.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $690.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $638.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $645.67.

MSCI Stock Performance

NYSE:MSCI opened at $612.25 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $603.93 and its 200-day moving average is $574.07. The company has a market cap of $47.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.20, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.11. MSCI Inc. has a 52-week low of $439.95 and a 52-week high of $642.45.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The technology company reported $3.86 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.77 by $0.09. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 162.06% and a net margin of 43.06%. The firm had revenue of $724.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $716.15 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.45 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that MSCI Inc. will post 14.99 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were given a $1.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.05%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.02%.

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.