Invesco Ltd. Acquires 23,029 Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 5.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 479,323 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 23,029 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. owned approximately 0.61% of MSCI worth $287,599,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MSCI. LRI Investments LLC increased its stake in MSCI by 120.0% during the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 44 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the period. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA bought a new position in MSCI in the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd boosted its stake in MSCI by 122.7% during the fourth quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 98 shares of the technology company's stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management bought a new stake in MSCI in the 4th quarter valued at $60,000. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA lifted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 46.8% during the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 113 shares of the technology company's stock worth $68,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSCI has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of MSCI from $623.00 to $532.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Barclays dropped their target price on MSCI from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded MSCI from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the company from $617.00 to $723.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $675.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, MSCI has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $646.58.

Remove Ads

Insider Activity at MSCI

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

MSCI Price Performance

Shares of MSCI stock traded up $6.94 on Tuesday, reaching $558.19. 181,666 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 568,172. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $561.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $586.67. The stock has a market cap of $43.34 billion, a PE ratio of 39.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.30. MSCI Inc. has a one year low of $439.95 and a one year high of $642.45.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last issued its 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 quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.68 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were given a $1.80 dividend. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.29%. This is an increase from MSCI's previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. MSCI's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.