Mediolanum International Funds Ltd Has $13.08 Million Holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Mediolanum International Funds Ltd lifted its position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 218.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,868 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,005 shares during the quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd’s holdings in MSCI were worth $13,081,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MSCI. Gilbert & Cook Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 984 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $590,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the period. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC raised its position in MSCI by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,243 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,346,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Invesco LLC bought a new position in MSCI during the fourth quarter worth about $203,000. Swedbank AB boosted its holdings in MSCI by 10.0% during the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 169,532 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $101,721,000 after purchasing an additional 15,425 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Forsta AP Fonden grew its stake in shares of MSCI by 23.5% in the 4th quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 29,400 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $17,640,000 after purchasing an additional 5,600 shares during the period. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

MSCI Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of MSCI stock opened at $596.83 on Friday. MSCI Inc. has a 12 month low of $439.95 and a 12 month high of $642.45. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $606.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $581.58. The stock has a market cap of $46.77 billion, a PE ratio of 42.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 1.11.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last posted 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 negative return on equity of 168.58% and a net margin of 38.83%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.68 earnings per share. Analysts expect that MSCI Inc. will post 16.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $1.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. 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 1.21%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.52%.

Insider Activity

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 2,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $612.80 per share, for a total transaction of $1,777,120.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSCI has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group lowered their price target on MSCI from $695.00 to $680.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $675.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of MSCI from $570.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Wolfe Research raised shares of MSCI from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $617.00 to $723.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, MSCI currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $649.23.

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.