Marks Group Wealth Management Inc Purchases 598 Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Marks Group Wealth Management Inc raised its position in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 2.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 21,563 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 598 shares during the quarter. MSCI makes up approximately 1.3% of Marks Group Wealth Management Inc's holdings, making the stock its 12th largest position. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc's holdings in MSCI were worth $12,938,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of MSCI. LRI Investments LLC grew its holdings in MSCI by 120.0% in the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 44 shares of the technology company's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new stake in MSCI in the third quarter worth about $38,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in MSCI in the third quarter worth about $40,000. Planning Capital Management Corp grew its holdings in MSCI by 35.1% in the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 77 shares of the technology company's stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA grew its holdings in MSCI by 35.1% in the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 77 shares of the technology company's stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective 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. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of MSCI from $695.00 to $680.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of MSCI from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $649.23.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 2,900 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $612.80 per share, for a total transaction 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 acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

MSCI Price Performance

MSCI stock traded up $0.48 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $572.78. 453,866 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 532,231. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 1.11. The business has a 50 day moving average of $601.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $586.26. MSCI Inc. has a 12 month low of $439.95 and a 12 month high of $642.45.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 in the prior year, the firm earned $3.68 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $1.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from MSCI's previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.26%. MSCI's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.52%.

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.