Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 185.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 55,974 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 36,378 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia owned 0.07% of MSCI worth $33,585,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.
Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of MSCI by 2.6% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,493,534 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $870,627,000 after acquiring an additional 37,340 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp raised its stake in MSCI by 10.5% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 28,791 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $16,806,000 after purchasing an additional 2,743 shares during the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC boosted its holdings 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 period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in MSCI by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,862,362 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,082,594,000 after purchasing an additional 13,691 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of MSCI by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,715 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,002,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company's stock.
MSCI Price Performance
Shares of MSCI stock traded up $9.47 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $560.72. 89,997 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 578,103. The stock has a market cap of $43.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.30. MSCI Inc. has a 52 week low of $439.95 and a 52 week high of $642.45. The stock's 50-day moving average is $561.54 and its 200-day moving average is $586.67.
MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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 previous year, the company posted $3.68 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
MSCI Increases Dividend
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $1.80 per share. This is a boost from MSCI's previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.28%. MSCI's payout ratio is currently 51.21%.
Insider Buying and Selling
In related news, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of the 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 294,787 shares in the company, valued at $154,542,084.75. This trade represents a 1.67 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 5,300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $574.51 per share, with a total value of $3,044,903.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,269,951 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $729,599,549.01. This represents a 0.42 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 3.31% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised MSCI from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $617.00 to $723.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Barclays cut their target price on MSCI from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of MSCI from $623.00 to $532.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $675.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $646.58.
Read Our Latest Analysis on MSCI
About MSCI
(
Free Report)
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.
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