Clearbridge Investments LLC Has $165.78 Million Holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 5.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 276,297 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 13,360 shares during the quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned about 0.35% of MSCI worth $165,781,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake 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 buying an additional 37,340 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA increased its stake in MSCI by 35.1% during the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 77 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC lifted its position in shares of MSCI by 76.0% during the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 6,478 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,776,000 after acquiring an additional 2,798 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI during the 3rd quarter worth $5,713,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC bought a new position in shares of MSCI in the third quarter worth $38,000. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 5,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $574.51 per share, for a total transaction of $3,044,903.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 3.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $675.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $617.00 to $723.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $649.23.

MSCI Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MSCI opened at $558.03 on Monday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $578.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $588.92. MSCI Inc. has a 1 year low of $439.95 and a 1 year high of $642.45. The firm has a market cap of $43.33 billion, a PE ratio of 39.69, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 posted $3.68 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $1.80 per share. This is a positive change from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.