Natural Investments LLC Makes New Investment in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Natural Investments LLC purchased a new position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 3,620 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $2,172,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings 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 worth $1,279,904,000 after acquiring an additional 318,214 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of MSCI during the fourth quarter worth about $185,003,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of MSCI during the fourth quarter worth about $126,082,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of MSCI by 14.3% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,587,723 shares of the technology company's stock worth $925,531,000 after buying an additional 198,666 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canoe Financial LP grew its holdings 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 buying an additional 162,877 shares in the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at MSCI

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 5,300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $574.51 per share, for a total transaction of $3,044,903.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,269,951 shares in the company, valued at approximately $729,599,549.01. The trade was a 0.42 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

MSCI Trading Down 3.1 %

Shares of NYSE MSCI opened at $544.63 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $42.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.74, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 business's 50 day moving average is $588.92 and its 200-day moving average is $590.06.

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MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last announced its 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 quarter last year, the company earned $3.68 EPS. Analysts forecast that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.

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