MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Shares Acquired by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 8.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,613,005 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 119,471 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 2.06% of MSCI worth $967,820,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. LRI Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of MSCI by 120.0% during the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 44 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new stake in MSCI during the third quarter valued at $38,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in MSCI during the third quarter valued at $40,000. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA purchased a new position in shares of MSCI in the 4th quarter worth $41,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp increased its holdings in shares of MSCI by 35.1% in the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 77 shares of the technology company's stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company's stock.

MSCI Stock Down 0.0 %

Shares of MSCI stock traded down $0.22 on Thursday, hitting $574.51. The stock had a trading volume of 736,989 shares, compared to its average volume of 554,309. MSCI Inc. has a one year low of $439.95 and a one year high of $642.45. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $598.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $587.18. The company has a market cap of $44.61 billion, a PE ratio of 40.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.11.

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, 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 period last year, the company posted $3.68 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.80 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.25%. This is a positive change from MSCI's previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. MSCI's dividend payout ratio is currently 51.21%.

Insider Buying and Selling at MSCI

In other news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 2,900 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $612.80 per share, for a total transaction of $1,777,120.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 330,379 shares of the company's stock, valued at $202,456,251.20. This trade represents a 0.89 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group dropped their price target on MSCI from $695.00 to $680.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays decreased 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. 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. Wolfe Research raised shares of MSCI from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $649.23.

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.