JPMorgan Chase & Co. Grows Stock Holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 5.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 567,834 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 31,623 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned approximately 0.72% of MSCI worth $340,707,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MSCI. CWA Asset Management Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of MSCI by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 418 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $251,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in MSCI by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 492 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $295,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of MSCI by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 2,044 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,227,000 after buying an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 35.1% in the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 77 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Perigon Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of MSCI by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 575 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $351,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MSCI Stock Down 1.4 %

NYSE MSCI opened at $558.03 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.19. MSCI Inc. has a 52-week low of $439.95 and a 52-week high of $642.45. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $578.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $588.92.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its earnings results 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 quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.68 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $1.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.29%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is 51.21%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSCI has been the subject of several research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $617.00 to $723.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays reduced their price objective on MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $675.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $649.23.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 5,300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,269,951 shares in the company, valued at approximately $729,599,549.01. The trade was a 0.42 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 3.31% of the company’s stock.

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.