MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Holdings Cut by Loomis Sayles & Co. L P

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P reduced its stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 5.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 73,506 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 4,295 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P owned 0.09% of MSCI worth $44,104,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. LRI Investments LLC boosted its position in MSCI by 120.0% during the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 44 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new position in shares of MSCI during the third quarter valued at $38,000. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA bought a new position in shares of MSCI during the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. Private Trust Co. NA grew its position in shares of MSCI by 35.1% during the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 77 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Y.D. More Investments Ltd increased its holdings in shares of MSCI by 122.7% in the 4th quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 98 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the period. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 5,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were acquired at an average price 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

MSCI Price Performance

Shares of MSCI opened at $565.72 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $579.90 and its 200-day moving average is $588.55. MSCI Inc. has a 12-month low of $439.95 and a 12-month high of $642.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.19.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 business earned $3.68 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $1.80 per share. The ex-dividend date 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 dividend yield of 1.27%. MSCI’s payout ratio is 51.21%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on MSCI. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of MSCI from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded 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 research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Barclays lowered their target price on MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $675.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $649.23.

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.