UniSuper Management Pty Ltd Has $3.79 Million Holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

UniSuper Management Pty Ltd boosted its holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 22.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,319 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,161 shares during the quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd's holdings in MSCI were worth $3,791,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of MSCI by 2.6% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,493,534 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $870,627,000 after purchasing an additional 37,340 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its position in MSCI by 32.1% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 107 shares of the technology company's stock worth $62,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA raised its holdings in shares of MSCI by 35.1% during 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. Qsemble Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of MSCI during the third quarter valued at about $210,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in shares of MSCI by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 51,116 shares of the technology company's stock worth $29,797,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Insider Buying and Selling at MSCI

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 5,300 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was purchased at an average price 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $729,599,549.01. This trade represents a 0.42 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 3.31% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSCI has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wolfe Research raised MSCI from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced 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. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $675.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded MSCI from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $617.00 to $723.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $649.23.

MSCI Stock Up 0.4 %

MSCI stock traded up $2.02 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $569.32. The company had a trading volume of 114,371 shares, compared to its average volume of 554,228. MSCI Inc. has a one year low of $439.95 and a one year high of $642.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.19. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $576.88 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $588.99.

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

MSCI Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders 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 yield of 1.26%. 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 51.21%.

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.