Andra AP fonden Trims Stock Position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Andra AP fonden lessened its holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 26.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,800 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 3,100 shares during the period. Andra AP fonden’s holdings in MSCI were worth $5,280,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Callan Family Office LLC purchased a new position in shares of MSCI during the 4th quarter worth $896,000. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in MSCI by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 3,230 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,938,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the period. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. lifted its position in MSCI by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. now owns 2,370 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,422,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in MSCI during the fourth quarter valued at $453,000. Finally, Inceptionr LLC bought a new stake in MSCI during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,217,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on MSCI shares. The Goldman Sachs Group raised MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $617.00 to $723.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of MSCI from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased 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. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock 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 company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $649.23.

MSCI Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of MSCI stock opened at $562.01 on Friday. MSCI Inc. has a twelve month low of $439.95 and a twelve month high of $642.45. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $590.02 and a 200-day moving average price of $590.00. The firm has a market cap of $43.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.97, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.19.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 period in the prior year, the business posted $3.68 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $1.80 per share. This is an increase from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.28%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.21%.

Insider Buying and Selling at MSCI

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 5,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $574.51 per share, for a total transaction of $3,044,903.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,269,951 shares in the company, valued at approximately $729,599,549.01. This trade represents a 0.42 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company 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.