Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. Takes Position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 24,403 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $14,683,000.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its stake in MSCI by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 223,940 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $134,366,000 after purchasing an additional 5,914 shares in the last quarter. Prudential PLC raised its stake in MSCI by 36.6% in the fourth quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 955 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $573,000 after buying an additional 256 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $409,000. Huntington National Bank boosted its stake in shares of MSCI by 90.6% during the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 728 shares of the technology company's stock worth $437,000 after acquiring an additional 346 shares during the period. Finally, Groupama Asset Managment increased its holdings in shares of MSCI by 65.3% during the 4th quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 4,211 shares of the technology company's stock worth $2,525,000 after acquiring an additional 1,663 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at MSCI

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 5,300 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were acquired 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 directly owns 1,269,951 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $729,599,549.01. The trade was a 0.42 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $524.25, for a total transaction of $2,621,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 294,787 shares in the company, valued at approximately $154,542,084.75. This represents a 1.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.31% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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MSCI Price Performance

MSCI stock traded up $10.97 during trading on Friday, reaching $538.74. 146,441 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 567,328. The company has a market capitalization of $41.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a 50-day moving average of $563.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $586.85. MSCI Inc. has a twelve month low of $439.95 and a twelve month high of $642.45.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 in the prior year, the business posted $3.68 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.34%. This is an increase from MSCI's previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. MSCI's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.21%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Bank of America assumed coverage on MSCI in a report on Thursday. They set a "neutral" rating and a $585.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays decreased their target price on MSCI from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $675.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $646.58.

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.