Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ Cuts Stock Holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ lessened its stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 0.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 75,886 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 63 shares during the quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ’s holdings in MSCI were worth $45,505,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. LRI Investments LLC raised its stake in MSCI by 120.0% in the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 44 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new position in shares of MSCI during the 3rd quarter worth about $38,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of MSCI in the 3rd quarter valued at about $40,000. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI during the 4th quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp lifted its stake in MSCI by 35.1% during the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 77 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 stock was purchased at an average cost of $574.51 per share, for a total transaction of $3,044,903.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSCI has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of MSCI from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $617.00 to $723.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $649.23.

MSCI Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE MSCI opened at $544.29 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.19. MSCI Inc. has a 52 week low of $439.95 and a 52 week high of $642.45. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $586.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $589.54.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 negative return on equity of 156.08% and a net margin of 38.83%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.68 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 EPS 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. MSCI’s payout ratio is 51.21%.

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.