Schroder Investment Management Group Acquires 34,314 Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Schroder Investment Management Group increased its stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 17.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 226,303 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 34,314 shares during the quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group owned approximately 0.29% of MSCI worth $135,784,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in MSCI in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $609,937,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in shares of MSCI by 169.4% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 507,413 shares of the technology company's stock worth $304,453,000 after acquiring an additional 319,083 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in MSCI in the 4th quarter valued at $185,003,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in MSCI during the 4th quarter valued at $126,082,000. Finally, Canoe Financial LP boosted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 162,877 shares during the period. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at MSCI

In other news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 5,300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $574.51 per share, with a total value of $3,044,903.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,269,951 shares in the company, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 3.31% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Remove Ads

MSCI Price Performance

MSCI traded down $27.16 on Thursday, hitting $548.80. 358,299 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 555,743. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.04, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.19. MSCI Inc. has a 12 month low of $439.95 and a 12 month high of $642.45. The business has a 50-day moving average of $576.12 and a two-hundred day moving average of $588.91.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 last year, the business posted $3.68 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $1.80 dividend. This is an increase from MSCI's previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. MSCI's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.21%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSCI has been the subject of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price 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. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of MSCI from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $617.00 to $723.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Wolfe Research raised MSCI from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $675.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price 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.