Arbor Capital Management Inc. ADV Reduces Stock Position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Arbor Capital Management Inc. ADV lessened its stake in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 16.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,549 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 298 shares during the quarter. Arbor Capital Management Inc. ADV’s holdings in MSCI were worth $930,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp increased its position in MSCI by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,192,364 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,860,925,000 after purchasing an additional 11,351 shares in the last quarter. Edgewood Management LLC grew its holdings in MSCI by 16.9% in 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 buying an additional 318,214 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in MSCI by 0.7% in 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 buying an additional 13,691 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in MSCI by 8.0% in 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 buying an additional 119,471 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in MSCI by 14.3% in 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 buying an additional 198,666 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Stock Performance

MSCI stock opened at $554.92 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $584.61 and its 200 day moving average price is $589.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.09 billion, a PE ratio of 39.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.19. MSCI Inc. has a one year low of $439.95 and a one year high of $642.45.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 last year, the firm posted $3.68 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $1.80 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.30%. MSCI’s payout ratio is currently 51.21%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 5,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $574.51 per share, for a total transaction of $3,044,903.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,269,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on the company. Wolfe Research upgraded MSCI from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. 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. Morgan Stanley lifted 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. The Goldman Sachs Group raised MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $617.00 to $723.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $675.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus 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.