CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC Reduces Position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lessened its stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 1.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 67,395 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 1,087 shares during the quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC owned approximately 0.09% of MSCI worth $40,587,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of MSCI by 0.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,192,364 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,860,925,000 after acquiring an additional 11,351 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of MSCI by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,862,362 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,082,594,000 after acquiring an additional 13,691 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of MSCI by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,613,005 shares of the technology company's stock worth $967,820,000 after purchasing an additional 119,471 shares during the period. Fiera Capital Corp increased its position in MSCI by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 1,148,615 shares of the technology company's stock worth $689,180,000 after buying an additional 49,679 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of MSCI in the fourth quarter valued at $609,937,000. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company's stock.

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Insider Transactions at MSCI

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 5,300 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $574.51 per share, for a total transaction of $3,044,903.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,269,951 shares in the company, valued at approximately $729,599,549.01. This trade represents a 0.42 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 3.31% of the company's stock.

MSCI Stock Performance

MSCI stock traded down $28.15 during trading on Thursday, hitting $547.81. 358,299 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 555,752. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.19. MSCI Inc. has a 52 week low of $439.95 and a 52 week high of $642.45. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $576.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $588.91.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 company posted $3.68 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $1.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.31%. This is a boost from MSCI's previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. MSCI's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.21%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSCI has been the topic of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $675.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of MSCI from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $617.00 to $723.00 in a research 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. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $649.23.

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.