Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Grows Stock Holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 30.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 174,982 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 41,346 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned approximately 0.22% of MSCI worth $104,991,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. HWG Holdings LP acquired a new stake in MSCI in the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. LRI Investments LLC raised its stake in MSCI by 120.0% in 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 last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new position in MSCI in the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in MSCI during the 3rd quarter worth $40,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp grew its holdings in shares of MSCI by 35.1% during the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 77 shares of the technology company's stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MSCI Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MSCI traded up $16.12 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $601.92. 504,132 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 407,259. MSCI Inc. has a 1 year low of $439.95 and a 1 year high of $642.45. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $602.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $572.69. The firm has a market cap of $47.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.52, a P/E/G ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.11.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The technology company reported $3.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.77 by $0.09. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 162.06% and a net margin of 43.06%. The business had revenue of $724.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $716.15 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.45 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that MSCI Inc. will post 14.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were given a dividend of $1.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.06%. MSCI's dividend payout ratio is presently 42.02%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 2,900 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $612.80 per share, with a total value of $1,777,120.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 330,379 shares of the company's stock, valued at $202,456,251.20. This trade represents a 0.89 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on MSCI shares. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $638.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of MSCI from $570.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded MSCI from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the company from $617.00 to $723.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on MSCI from $695.00 to $680.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MSCI presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $645.67.

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.