Sei Investments Co. Acquires 5,399 Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Sei Investments Co. grew its position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 3.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 179,045 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 5,399 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. owned about 0.23% of MSCI worth $107,429,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of MSCI by 30.9% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 174,982 shares of the technology company's stock worth $104,991,000 after purchasing an additional 41,346 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in MSCI by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 536,211 shares of the technology company's stock worth $312,574,000 after purchasing an additional 23,050 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC raised its stake in shares of MSCI by 176.2% in the 3rd quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 1,580 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $921,000 after purchasing an additional 1,008 shares during the period. Nvwm LLC raised its stake in shares of MSCI by 3,581.3% in the 4th quarter. Nvwm LLC now owns 1,767 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,060,000 after purchasing an additional 1,719 shares during the period. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 76.3% in the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 2,992 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,795,000 after purchasing an additional 1,295 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company's stock.

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Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 5,300 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was acquired at an average cost 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 of the company's stock, valued at $729,599,549.01. This trade represents a 0.42 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

MSCI Stock Performance

MSCI traded down $5.27 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $569.35. The company's stock had a trading volume of 455,125 shares, compared to its average volume of 529,608. The company's 50-day moving average is $580.78 and its 200-day moving average is $588.71. MSCI Inc. has a 52 week low of $439.95 and a 52 week high of $642.45. The firm has a market cap of $44.21 billion, a PE ratio of 40.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.19.

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

MSCI Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $1.80 per share. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from MSCI's previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. MSCI's payout ratio is currently 51.21%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSCI has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wolfe Research raised MSCI from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $675.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. 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, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, MSCI presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average 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.