4,075 Shares in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Bought by Allianz SE

Allianz SE bought a new stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 4,075 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $2,444,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of MSCI in the 4th quarter valued at about $609,937,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in MSCI in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $185,003,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in MSCI in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $126,082,000. Canoe Financial LP raised its holdings in MSCI by 700.4% during the fourth quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 186,131 shares of the technology company's stock worth $111,680,000 after purchasing an additional 162,877 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Funds Management LTD purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI during the 4th quarter worth approximately $82,722,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSCI has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $675.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. 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 report on Wednesday, December 18th. Barclays reduced their target price on MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective 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 analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, MSCI has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $649.23.

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MSCI Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of MSCI traded up $1.48 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $566.98. 550,131 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 554,854. MSCI Inc. has a 52-week low of $439.95 and a 52-week high of $642.45. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $577.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $588.96. The company has a market cap of $44.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.33, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.19.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business posted $3.68 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $1.80 per share. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.27%. This is an increase from MSCI's previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. MSCI's dividend payout ratio is presently 51.21%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 5,300 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was 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 owns 1,269,951 shares of the company's stock, valued at $729,599,549.01. This trade represents a 0.42 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 3.31% of the company's stock.

MSCI Company 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.