MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Shares Acquired by Smartleaf Asset Management LLC

Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 29.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 603 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 137 shares during the quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC’s holdings in MSCI were worth $362,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. LRI Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of MSCI by 120.0% in the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 44 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new position in shares of MSCI during the third quarter worth about $38,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in MSCI in the 3rd quarter valued at about $40,000. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA purchased a new stake in MSCI during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp lifted its position in MSCI by 35.1% during the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 77 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at MSCI

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 2,900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $612.80 per share, for a total transaction of $1,777,120.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 330,379 shares in the company, valued at $202,456,251.20. This represents a 0.89 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MSCI. Wolfe Research raised MSCI from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note 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 report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $649.23.

MSCI Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MSCI opened at $567.68 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.11. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $592.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $590.10. MSCI Inc. has a 12 month low of $439.95 and a 12 month high of $642.45.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.96 by $0.22. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 156.08% and a net margin of 38.83%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.68 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current 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 paid a $1.80 dividend. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.27%. 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%.

About MSCI

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.