AustralianSuper Pty Ltd Has $142.13 Million Stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

AustralianSuper Pty Ltd lessened its holdings in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 18.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 236,884 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 53,221 shares during the quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd owned approximately 0.30% of MSCI worth $142,133,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MSCI. GFG Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI during the 4th quarter worth about $204,000. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA bought a new position in shares of MSCI in the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Figure 8 Investment Strategies LLC bought a new position in MSCI in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,180,000. Avestar Capital LLC raised its position in MSCI by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 413 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $248,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fiera Capital Corp boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 1,148,615 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $689,180,000 after purchasing an additional 49,679 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 2,900 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 330,379 shares in the company, valued at approximately $202,456,251.20. The trade was a 0.89 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised MSCI from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $617.00 to $723.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Wolfe Research raised shares of MSCI from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of MSCI from $695.00 to $680.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $675.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $649.23.

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MSCI traded up $1.49 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $574.18. 608,962 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 548,602. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.84, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.11. MSCI Inc. has a twelve month low of $439.95 and a twelve month high of $642.45. The business's fifty day moving average price is $599.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $587.27.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.68 EPS. Analysts predict that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $1.80 per share. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from MSCI's previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. MSCI's dividend payout ratio is currently 51.21%.

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.