Federated Hermes Inc. Acquires 30,722 Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Federated Hermes Inc. increased its position in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 34.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 119,588 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 30,722 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. owned about 0.15% of MSCI worth $71,754,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nutshell Asset Management Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI during the 4th quarter worth about $9,610,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in MSCI by 37.3% in the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 339,526 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $203,710,000 after acquiring an additional 92,213 shares during the last quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. lifted its stake in MSCI by 44.4% in the fourth quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 533 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $320,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new stake in MSCI in the fourth quarter worth approximately $876,000. Finally, Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of MSCI during the 4th quarter valued at $14,683,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on MSCI shares. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of MSCI from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 4th. Bank of America assumed coverage on MSCI in a report on Thursday. They set a "neutral" rating and a $585.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $675.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped 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 report on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $646.58.

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MSCI Trading Up 2.7 %

MSCI traded up $14.49 on Friday, hitting $542.26. 464,559 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 569,462. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $562.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $586.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.11 billion, a PE ratio of 38.57, a P/E/G 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.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last released 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 firm earned $3.68 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $1.80 per share. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.33%. This is an increase from MSCI's previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. MSCI's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.21%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 5,300 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $574.51 per share, for a total transaction of $3,044,903.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,269,951 shares of the company's stock, valued at $729,599,549.01. The trade was a 0.42 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $524.25, for a total transaction of $2,621,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 294,787 shares in the company, valued at $154,542,084.75. This represents a 1.67 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.31% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

MSCI 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.