Cumberland Partners Ltd Buys 3,000 Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Cumberland Partners Ltd raised its holdings in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 120.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,500 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 3,000 shares during the quarter. Cumberland Partners Ltd's holdings in MSCI were worth $3,300,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. LRI Investments LLC increased 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 buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new position in shares of MSCI in the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI in the third quarter valued at about $40,000. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA bought a new stake in MSCI during the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp boosted its position in MSCI by 35.1% during the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 77 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on MSCI shares. Wolfe Research raised MSCI from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of MSCI from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $617.00 to $723.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $675.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $649.23.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 2,900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $612.80 per share, for a total transaction of $1,777,120.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 330,379 shares in the company, valued at approximately $202,456,251.20. The trade was a 0.89 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

MSCI Price Performance

NYSE MSCI traded up $3.85 on Friday, reaching $578.20. The stock had a trading volume of 244,200 shares, compared to its average volume of 544,394. MSCI Inc. has a 1-year low of $439.95 and a 1-year high of $642.45. The company has a market cap of $44.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.11. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $597.17 and a two-hundred day moving average of $587.09.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.96 by $0.22. MSCI had a net margin of 38.83% and a negative return on equity of 156.08%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.68 EPS. Research analysts predict that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $1.80 dividend. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.25%. This is an increase from MSCI's previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. MSCI's payout ratio is presently 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.