Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. Acquires 5,698 Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. grew its holdings in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 58.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 15,400 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 5,698 shares during the quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.’s holdings in MSCI were worth $9,240,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. iA Global Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of MSCI by 33.0% during the 4th quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,258 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $4,355,000 after purchasing an additional 1,801 shares during the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its stake in shares of MSCI by 316.7% during the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 108,486 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $65,093,000 after purchasing an additional 82,451 shares during the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. increased its stake in shares of MSCI by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 31,542 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $18,926,000 after purchasing an additional 401 shares during the last quarter. GCQ FUNDS MANAGEMENT PTY Ltd acquired a new position in shares of MSCI during the 4th quarter worth about $40,812,000. Finally, Vinva Investment Management Ltd increased its stake in shares of MSCI by 38.7% during the 4th quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 28,912 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $17,337,000 after purchasing an additional 8,068 shares during the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on MSCI shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $617.00 to $723.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of MSCI from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $649.23.

MSCI Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:MSCI opened at $565.72 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $582.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $588.67. MSCI Inc. has a 12-month low of $439.95 and a 12-month high of $642.45. The firm has a market cap of $43.93 billion, a PE ratio of 40.24, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.19.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued 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 net margin of 38.83% and a negative return on equity of 156.08%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.68 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 EPS for the current 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 issued a dividend of $1.80 per share. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is 51.21%.

Insider Transactions at MSCI

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 5,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $574.51 per share, with a total value of $3,044,903.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,269,951 shares in the company, valued at approximately $729,599,549.01. This trade represents a 0.42 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.