Royal Bank of Canada Increases Stock Holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 3.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 349,570 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 10,154 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada’s holdings in MSCI were worth $209,745,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 536,211 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $312,574,000 after buying an additional 23,050 shares during the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 9.2% in the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 3,121 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,873,000 after buying an additional 263 shares during the last quarter. Burney Co. boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Burney Co. now owns 1,251 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $751,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 659 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $395,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empirical Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of MSCI in the 4th quarter worth about $278,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of MSCI opened at $571.26 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $550.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $579.20. MSCI Inc. has a twelve month low of $475.32 and a twelve month high of $642.45. The stock has a market cap of $44.20 billion, a PE ratio of 40.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.33.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The technology company reported $4.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.88 by $0.12. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 156.08% and a net margin of 38.83%. The firm had revenue of $745.83 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $746.45 million. Analysts expect that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $1.80 per share. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.48%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSCI has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of MSCI from $673.00 to $631.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of MSCI in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $585.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $675.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on MSCI from $532.00 to $530.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $645.36.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $524.25, for a total value of $2,621,250.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 294,787 shares in the company, valued at approximately $154,542,084.75. This represents a 1.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 5,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was bought at an average price 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 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 position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company 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.