Handelsbanken Fonder AB Purchases 1,524 Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its stake in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 6.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 23,928 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,524 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in MSCI were worth $14,357,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MSCI. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of MSCI by 15.0% during the third quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,318 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,351,000 after acquiring an additional 302 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in shares of MSCI by 6.8% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,248 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $728,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of MSCI by 15.8% during the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 945 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $551,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of MSCI by 19,331.1% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 26,232 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $15,291,000 after acquiring an additional 26,097 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Values First Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of MSCI during the third quarter valued at $133,000. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

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

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MSCI opened at $578.71 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.16, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.11. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $597.17 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $587.09. MSCI Inc. has a 52-week low of $439.95 and a 52-week high of $642.45.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 earnings per share 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 in the previous year, the company posted $3.68 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $1.80 per share. This is a boost from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. MSCI’s payout ratio is presently 51.21%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSCI has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $675.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays dropped their price objective on MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Wolfe Research raised MSCI from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $617.00 to $723.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $649.23.

MSCI 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.