MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Shares Acquired by EFG Asset Management Americas Corp.

EFG Asset Management Americas Corp. raised its holdings in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 13.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 15,166 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,847 shares during the quarter. MSCI makes up 1.8% of EFG Asset Management Americas Corp.’s holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest position. EFG Asset Management Americas Corp.’s holdings in MSCI were worth $9,100,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MSCI. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in MSCI by 30.0% during the 3rd quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 564 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $329,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in MSCI by 30.9% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 174,982 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $104,991,000 after buying an additional 41,346 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in MSCI by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 536,211 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $312,574,000 after buying an additional 23,050 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its position in MSCI by 339.6% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 26,834 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $15,642,000 after buying an additional 20,730 shares during the period. Finally, Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC increased its position in MSCI by 176.2% during the 3rd quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 1,580 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $921,000 after buying an additional 1,008 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of MSCI stock opened at $565.84 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $590.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $589.81. MSCI Inc. has a 12 month low of $439.95 and a 12 month high of $642.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.24, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.19.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 negative return on equity of 156.08% and a net margin of 38.83%. During the same quarter last year, the business 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 company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $1.80 per share. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.27%. This is a positive change 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 (DPR) is presently 51.21%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on MSCI. 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. Barclays decreased their price target on MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $617.00 to $723.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on 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 upgraded MSCI from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $649.23.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 5,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $574.51 per share, with a total value of $3,044,903.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,269,951 shares in the company, valued at $729,599,549.01. The trade was a 0.42 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

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.