Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Increases Stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 37,352 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 483 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA's holdings in MSCI were worth $22,412,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. CWA Asset Management Group LLC grew its position in MSCI by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 418 shares of the technology company's stock worth $251,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of MSCI by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 492 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $295,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of MSCI by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 2,044 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,227,000 after buying an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in MSCI by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 575 shares of the technology company's stock worth $351,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC boosted its stake in MSCI by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC now owns 3,325 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,995,000 after buying an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company's stock.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MSCI shares. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of MSCI from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $675.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley lifted 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. Wolfe Research upgraded MSCI from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note 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 a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $647.31.

Insider Transactions at MSCI

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 5,300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $574.51 per share, for a total transaction of $3,044,903.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 1,269,951 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $729,599,549.01. This trade represents a 0.42 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 3.31% of the company's stock.

MSCI Price Performance

MSCI stock traded down $36.61 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $507.57. 1,194,650 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 561,174. MSCI Inc. has a 52-week low of $439.95 and a 52-week high of $642.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.30. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $572.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $588.40.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.68 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate 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 given a $1.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.42%. This is a positive change from MSCI's previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. MSCI's dividend payout ratio is currently 51.21%.

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.