Walter Public Investments Inc. Purchases 3,634 Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Walter Public Investments Inc. increased its position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 18.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 23,265 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 3,634 shares during the period. MSCI comprises approximately 2.5% of Walter Public Investments Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Walter Public Investments Inc.’s holdings in MSCI were worth $13,959,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MSCI. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,192,364 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,860,925,000 after purchasing an additional 11,351 shares during the last quarter. Edgewood Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 16.9% during the 3rd quarter. Edgewood Management LLC now owns 2,195,639 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,279,904,000 after purchasing an additional 318,214 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,862,362 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,082,594,000 after purchasing an additional 13,691 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,613,005 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $967,820,000 after purchasing an additional 119,471 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 14.3% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,587,723 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $925,531,000 after purchasing an additional 198,666 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on MSCI shares. Wolfe Research raised shares of MSCI from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $675.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of MSCI from $695.00 to $680.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $649.23.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 5,300 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $574.51 per share, with a total value of $3,044,903.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,269,951 shares in the company, valued at $729,599,549.01. The trade was a 0.42 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

MSCI Price Performance

MSCI stock opened at $579.16 on Thursday. MSCI Inc. has a 1-year low of $439.95 and a 1-year high of $642.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.11. The company’s 50-day moving average is $594.42 and its 200 day moving average is $588.98.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 last year, the company posted $3.68 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

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

MSCI Company 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.