iA Global Asset Management Inc. Acquires 1,801 Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

iA Global Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 33.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,258 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 1,801 shares during the quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in MSCI were worth $4,355,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of MSCI by 30.9% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 174,982 shares of the technology company's stock worth $104,991,000 after acquiring an additional 41,346 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 23,050 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC grew its position in MSCI by 176.2% during the 3rd quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 1,580 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $921,000 after purchasing an additional 1,008 shares during the last quarter. Nvwm LLC increased its stake in MSCI by 3,581.3% during the 4th quarter. Nvwm LLC now owns 1,767 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,060,000 after purchasing an additional 1,719 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in MSCI by 76.3% in the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 2,992 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,795,000 after buying an additional 1,295 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company's stock.

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Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 5,300 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were purchased at an average cost 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $729,599,549.01. This trade represents a 0.42 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

MSCI Trading Up 1.5 %

MSCI stock traded up $8.59 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $575.38. 409,806 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 529,083. MSCI Inc. has a 52-week low of $439.95 and a 52-week high of $642.45. The stock has a market cap of $44.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.92, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.19. The stock's 50-day moving average is $581.63 and its 200 day moving average is $588.73.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 period last year, the business posted $3.68 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $1.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.25%. This is an increase from MSCI's previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. MSCI's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.21%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on MSCI shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of MSCI from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the company from $617.00 to $723.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $675.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays dropped their price objective on MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised MSCI from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $649.23.

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.