MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Shares Purchased by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 30.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 174,982 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 41,346 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in MSCI were worth $104,991,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MSCI. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in MSCI by 32.0% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 241,960 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $116,564,000 after buying an additional 58,612 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of MSCI by 15.6% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 254,415 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $122,577,000 after acquiring an additional 34,351 shares in the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI in the second quarter valued at $343,000. Wealth Alliance purchased a new position in MSCI in the second quarter valued at $279,000. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its position in shares of MSCI by 12.2% during the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 2,669 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,246,000 after buying an additional 291 shares in the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 2,900 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $612.80 per share, for a total transaction of $1,777,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 330,379 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $202,456,251.20. This trade represents a 0.89 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of MSCI stock opened at $585.51 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $45.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.11. MSCI Inc. has a 52-week low of $439.95 and a 52-week high of $642.45. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $602.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $572.69.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The technology company reported $3.86 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.77 by $0.09. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 162.06% and a net margin of 43.06%. The company had revenue of $724.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $716.15 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.45 earnings per share. MSCI’s quarterly revenue was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc. will post 14.98 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were issued a dividend of $1.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.09%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.02%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $680.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on MSCI from $695.00 to $680.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $638.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of MSCI from $570.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $690.00 price target on the stock. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $645.67.

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.