CIBC Asset Management Inc Has $34.44 Million Stock Holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

CIBC Asset Management Inc cut its stake in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 8.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 57,491 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 5,343 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc owned approximately 0.07% of MSCI worth $34,441,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. LRI Investments LLC raised its position in shares of MSCI by 120.0% during 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 acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI during the third quarter worth $38,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI during the third quarter worth $40,000. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA purchased a new position in shares of MSCI during the fourth quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp grew its holdings in shares of MSCI by 35.1% during the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 77 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 2,900 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was bought at an average price of $612.80 per share, with a total value of $1,777,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 330,379 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $202,456,251.20. This represents a 0.89 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

MSCI Trading Up 0.8 %

NYSE MSCI traded up $4.36 on Friday, reaching $578.71. The stock had a trading volume of 565,157 shares, compared to its average volume of 554,625. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $597.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $587.09. MSCI Inc. has a 1 year low of $439.95 and a 1 year high of $642.45. The company has a market capitalization of $44.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.11.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 period in the previous year, the company earned $3.68 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate 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 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 of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.24%. This is a boost from MSCI's previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. MSCI's payout ratio is currently 51.21%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded MSCI from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $617.00 to $723.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $675.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $649.23.

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.