KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Buys Shares of 26,600 MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 26,600 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $15,960,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 179,045 shares of the technology company's stock worth $107,429,000 after buying an additional 5,399 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its position in shares of MSCI by 45.6% during the fourth quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 7,428 shares of the technology company's stock worth $4,457,000 after purchasing an additional 2,328 shares in the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its stake in MSCI by 34.0% during the 4th quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 4,307 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $2,584,000 after purchasing an additional 1,092 shares during the period. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. lifted its holdings in MSCI by 58.7% in the 4th quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. now owns 15,400 shares of the technology company's stock worth $9,240,000 after purchasing an additional 5,698 shares in the last quarter. Finally, iA Global Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in MSCI by 33.0% in the 4th quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,258 shares of the technology company's stock worth $4,355,000 after purchasing an additional 1,801 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company's stock.

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MSCI Price Performance

MSCI stock traded down $1.49 during trading on Thursday, reaching $567.99. 101,770 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 527,935. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $580.78 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $588.71. The company has a market capitalization of $44.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.40, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.19. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 earnings per share 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 in the previous year, the company posted $3.68 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current 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 dividend of $1.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.27%. This is an increase from MSCI's previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. MSCI's dividend payout ratio is currently 51.21%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 5,300 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $574.51 per share, with a total value of $3,044,903.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,269,951 shares of the company's stock, valued at $729,599,549.01. This trade represents a 0.42 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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