Fisher Funds Management LTD Acquires Shares of 137,941 MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Fisher Funds Management LTD bought a new position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 137,941 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $82,722,000. MSCI comprises about 2.0% of Fisher Funds Management LTD’s holdings, making the stock its 17th largest position. Fisher Funds Management LTD owned about 0.18% of MSCI at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Edgewood Management LLC raised its position 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 during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of MSCI by 14.3% during the 3rd 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 raised its holdings in MSCI by 700.4% during the 4th quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 186,131 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $111,680,000 after buying an additional 162,877 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in MSCI by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,613,005 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $967,820,000 after buying an additional 119,471 shares during the period. Finally, Champlain Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in MSCI in the third quarter worth $56,101,000. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MSCI Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of MSCI stock opened at $578.71 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.11. MSCI Inc. has a twelve month low of $439.95 and a twelve month high of $642.45. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $596.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $587.95.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 earnings per share 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 last year, the firm earned $3.68 earnings per share. Research analysts predict 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 will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $1.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.24%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.21%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Activity at MSCI

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 2,900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was bought at an average price of $612.80 per share, for a total transaction 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 represents a 0.89 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About MSCI

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.