Wells Fargo & Company MN Buys 5,914 Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its position in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 223,940 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 5,914 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN owned approximately 0.29% of MSCI worth $134,366,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of MSCI by 30.9% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 174,982 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $104,991,000 after acquiring an additional 41,346 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in MSCI by 4.5% in 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 during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC lifted its position in MSCI by 176.2% in the third 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 last quarter. Nvwm LLC boosted its stake in shares of MSCI by 3,581.3% during the fourth 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 grew 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 worth $1,795,000 after purchasing an additional 1,295 shares during the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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MSCI Stock Up 2.1 %

MSCI traded up $10.97 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $538.74. 146,441 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 567,328. The company's 50-day moving average is $563.00 and its 200 day moving average is $586.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.83 billion, a PE ratio of 38.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.30. MSCI Inc. has a 52 week low of $439.95 and a 52 week high of $642.45.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last issued its 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 period in the previous year, the company earned $3.68 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $1.80 dividend. This is an increase from MSCI's previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.34%. MSCI's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.21%.

Insider Transactions at MSCI

In related news, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of MSCI 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 294,787 shares in the company, valued at approximately $154,542,084.75. The trade was a 1.67 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 5,300 shares of the business's 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 purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,269,951 shares in the company, valued at $729,599,549.01. This represents a 0.42 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 3.31% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $675.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of MSCI from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of MSCI from $623.00 to $532.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised MSCI from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $617.00 to $723.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently 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.