MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Shares Acquired by Geode Capital Management LLC

Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,897,456 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 35,094 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC owned approximately 2.42% of MSCI worth $1,136,563,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of MSCI by 30.9% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 174,982 shares of the technology company's stock worth $104,991,000 after buying an additional 41,346 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in MSCI by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 536,211 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $312,574,000 after acquiring an additional 23,050 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC grew its holdings in MSCI by 176.2% during the 3rd quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 1,580 shares of the technology company's stock worth $921,000 after acquiring an additional 1,008 shares in the last quarter. Nvwm LLC increased its position in shares of MSCI by 3,581.3% in the 4th quarter. Nvwm LLC now owns 1,767 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,060,000 after purchasing an additional 1,719 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of MSCI by 76.3% in the 4th quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 2,992 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,795,000 after purchasing an additional 1,295 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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 dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was bought 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 owns 1,269,951 shares in the company, valued at approximately $729,599,549.01. The trade was a 0.42 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 3.31% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MSCI. Wolfe Research raised MSCI from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded 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. 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. 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, MSCI currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $647.31.

MSCI Price Performance

Shares of MSCI stock traded down $36.61 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $507.57. The stock had a trading volume of 1,194,650 shares, compared to its average volume of 560,242. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.41 billion, a PE ratio of 36.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.30. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $574.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $588.59. MSCI Inc. has a twelve month low of $439.95 and a twelve month high of $642.45.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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 net margin of 38.83% and a negative return on equity of 156.08%. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.68 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $1.80 per share. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from MSCI's previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. MSCI's payout ratio is 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.