MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Stock Position Increased by GFI Investment Counsel Ltd.

GFI Investment Counsel Ltd. increased its position in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 116,611 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,239 shares during the period. MSCI accounts for approximately 8.0% of GFI Investment Counsel Ltd.'s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. GFI Investment Counsel Ltd. owned 0.15% of MSCI worth $69,968,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI during the 4th quarter worth approximately $609,937,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in MSCI by 169.4% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 507,413 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $304,453,000 after acquiring an additional 319,083 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in MSCI in the fourth quarter valued at $185,003,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of MSCI during the fourth quarter worth about $126,082,000. Finally, Canoe Financial LP increased its position in shares of MSCI by 700.4% during the fourth quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 186,131 shares of the technology company's stock worth $111,680,000 after purchasing an additional 162,877 shares in the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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MSCI Price Performance

NYSE MSCI traded down $32.04 on Thursday, hitting $543.92. 631,673 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 556,745. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $576.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $588.91. The firm has a market cap of $42.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.19. MSCI Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $439.95 and a fifty-two week high of $642.45.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last announced 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 negative return on equity of 156.08% and a net margin of 38.83%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.68 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $1.80 dividend. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from MSCI's previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. MSCI's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.21%.

Insider Activity at MSCI

In other news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 5,300 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were 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 owns 1,269,951 shares in the company, valued at $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 3.31% 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.