Empire Life Investments Inc. Lowers Position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Empire Life Investments Inc. cut its stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,676 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 70 shares during the period. Empire Life Investments Inc.’s holdings in MSCI were worth $5,206,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Edgewood Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted 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 valued at $925,531,000 after purchasing an additional 198,666 shares during the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP lifted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 700.4% during the fourth quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 186,131 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $111,680,000 after purchasing an additional 162,877 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 358.3% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 133,636 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $77,900,000 after purchasing an additional 104,474 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Champlain Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of MSCI during the third quarter valued at approximately $56,101,000. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MSCI Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE:MSCI opened at $572.78 on Friday. MSCI Inc. has a 12 month low of $439.95 and a 12 month high of $642.45. The company has a market cap of $44.89 billion, a PE ratio of 40.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $602.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $586.05.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last posted 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 period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.68 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $1.80 per share. This is an increase from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.26%. MSCI’s payout ratio is presently 45.52%.

Insider Activity

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 2,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $612.80 per share, with a total value of $1,777,120.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 330,379 shares in the company, valued at approximately $202,456,251.20. The trade was a 0.89 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on MSCI shares. UBS Group lowered their target price 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. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $617.00 to $723.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $675.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $649.23.

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.