National Bank of Canada FI Has $117.69 Million Stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

National Bank of Canada FI lifted its position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 187.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 196,148 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 128,001 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI owned about 0.25% of MSCI worth $117,691,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of MSCI by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,493,534 shares of the technology company's stock worth $870,627,000 after buying an additional 37,340 shares during the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of MSCI by 76.0% during the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 6,478 shares of the technology company's stock worth $3,776,000 after purchasing an additional 2,798 shares in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec bought a new position in MSCI in the 3rd quarter valued at about $5,713,000. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $389,000. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at MSCI

In other news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 5,300 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were acquired 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 owns 1,269,951 shares of the company's stock, valued at $729,599,549.01. The trade was a 0.42 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 3.31% of the company's stock.

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MSCI Price Performance

Shares of MSCI stock traded down $32.04 during trading on Thursday, hitting $543.92. The company's stock had a trading volume of 631,673 shares, compared to its average volume of 556,745. The stock has a market cap of $42.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.69, a price-to-earnings-growth 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. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $576.12 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $588.91.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 last year, the firm posted $3.68 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $1.80 per share. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a 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 is currently 51.21%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on MSCI shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of MSCI from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $617.00 to $723.00 in a research report 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $675.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus 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.