TD Private Client Wealth LLC Grows Stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 34.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,307 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,092 shares during the period. TD Private Client Wealth LLC's holdings in MSCI were worth $2,584,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MSCI. Edgewood Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of MSCI by 16.9% in the third quarter. Edgewood Management LLC now owns 2,195,639 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,279,904,000 after purchasing an additional 318,214 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in MSCI in the 4th quarter valued at $185,003,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI in the 4th quarter worth $126,082,000. Canoe Financial LP raised its holdings in shares of MSCI by 700.4% during the 4th quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 186,131 shares of the technology company's stock worth $111,680,000 after acquiring an additional 162,877 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Funds Management LTD acquired a new position in shares of MSCI during the 4th quarter valued at about $82,722,000. 89.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSCI has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of MSCI from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $675.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays reduced their price target 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. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded MSCI from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $617.00 to $723.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MSCI presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $649.23.

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MSCI Price Performance

Shares of MSCI stock traded down $5.27 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $569.35. The company's stock had a trading volume of 455,125 shares, compared to its average volume of 529,170. The company has a market capitalization of $44.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.19. MSCI Inc. has a 1-year low of $439.95 and a 1-year high of $642.45. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $581.43 and its 200 day moving average price is $588.84.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 EPS 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 business earned $3.68 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $1.80 per share. This is an increase from MSCI's previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.26%. MSCI's dividend payout ratio is 51.21%.

Insider Buying and Selling at MSCI

In other news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 5,300 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $574.51 per share, for a total transaction of $3,044,903.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now 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 acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

MSCI 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.