Ieq Capital LLC Boosts Position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Ieq Capital LLC lifted its holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 97.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 12,308 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 6,072 shares during the quarter. Ieq Capital LLC's holdings in MSCI were worth $7,385,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MSCI. LRI Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of MSCI by 120.0% during the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 44 shares of the technology company's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI in the third quarter valued at about $38,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in MSCI during the third quarter worth about $40,000. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA purchased a new stake in MSCI during the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp grew 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 worth $45,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company's stock.

MSCI Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of MSCI stock traded up $4.36 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $578.71. 565,157 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 554,625. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.11. MSCI Inc. has a twelve month low of $439.95 and a twelve month high of $642.45. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $597.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $587.09.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 earnings per share (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 company earned $3.68 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.80 per share. This is a boost from MSCI's previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.24%. MSCI's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.21%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insider Activity at MSCI

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 2,900 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $612.80 per share, with a total value of $1,777,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 330,379 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $202,456,251.20. The trade was a 0.89 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

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.