Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Buys 22,285 Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its holdings in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 62.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 58,061 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 22,285 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned approximately 0.07% of MSCI worth $34,837,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. LRI Investments LLC grew its holdings in MSCI by 120.0% during the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 44 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new position in shares of MSCI during the third quarter worth $38,000. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA acquired a new position in shares of MSCI in the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. Private Trust Co. NA increased its position in shares of MSCI by 35.1% in the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 77 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Y.D. More Investments Ltd raised its stake in MSCI by 122.7% during the 4th quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 98 shares of the technology company's stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 5,300 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $574.51 per share, with a total value of $3,044,903.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,269,951 shares in the company, valued at approximately $729,599,549.01. This 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. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on MSCI. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $675.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a report on Thursday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised MSCI from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $617.00 to $723.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. 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 note on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of MSCI from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $649.23.

MSCI Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:MSCI traded up $8.59 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $575.38. 409,806 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 529,083. MSCI Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $439.95 and a fifty-two week high of $642.45. The stock has a market cap of $44.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.19. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $581.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $588.73.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 earnings per share 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 prior year, the business earned $3.68 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict 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 issued a $1.80 dividend. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.25%. This is a boost from MSCI's previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. MSCI's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.