Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC Has $92.22 Million Stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC trimmed its stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 4.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 153,690 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 6,555 shares during the quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC owned approximately 0.20% of MSCI worth $92,216,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MSCI. Edgewood Management LLC grew its stake in shares of MSCI by 16.9% in the third quarter. Edgewood Management LLC now owns 2,195,639 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,279,904,000 after purchasing an additional 318,214 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in MSCI by 14.3% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,587,723 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $925,531,000 after buying an additional 198,666 shares in the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP increased its stake in MSCI by 700.4% during the 4th quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 186,131 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $111,680,000 after buying an additional 162,877 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of MSCI by 358.3% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 133,636 shares of the technology company's stock worth $77,900,000 after buying an additional 104,474 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Champlain Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $56,101,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company's stock.

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of MSCI stock traded up $0.30 on Tuesday, reaching $572.93. 637,397 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 543,080. The company has a market capitalization of $44.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 1.11. MSCI Inc. has a 12-month low of $439.95 and a 12-month high of $642.45. The business's 50 day moving average price is $600.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $587.04.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 earnings per share 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.68 EPS. Research analysts predict that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The business 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 $1.80 dividend. This is an increase from MSCI's previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.26%. MSCI's dividend payout ratio is presently 45.52%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on MSCI shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on MSCI from $695.00 to $680.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Wolfe Research raised MSCI from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of 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 research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $675.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $649.23.

Insider Buying and Selling at MSCI

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

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.