Allstate Corp Makes New $1.40 Million Investment in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Allstate Corp purchased a new position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 2,325 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $1,395,000.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on MSCI. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased 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. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $675.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of MSCI from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $649.23.

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Insider Buying and Selling at MSCI

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 5,300 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were 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 approximately $729,599,549.01. This trade represents a 0.42 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 3.31% of the company's stock.

MSCI Stock Performance

MSCI stock traded down $28.74 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $547.22. The company's stock had a trading volume of 320,111 shares, compared to its average volume of 555,617. The company has a market capitalization of $42.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.19. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $576.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $588.91. MSCI Inc. has a 12 month low of $439.95 and a 12 month high of $642.45.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 firm posted $3.68 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 EPS for the current 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 $1.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from MSCI's previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.32%. MSCI's dividend payout ratio is 51.21%.

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.