NEOS Investment Management LLC Raises Stock Holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

NEOS Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 31.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,157 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 515 shares during the quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC’s holdings in MSCI were worth $1,294,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in MSCI in the 4th quarter worth about $185,003,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of MSCI in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $126,082,000. Canoe Financial LP boosted its stake in shares of MSCI by 700.4% in the fourth quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 186,131 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $111,680,000 after acquiring an additional 162,877 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Funds Management LTD purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI during the fourth quarter worth approximately $82,722,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake 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 purchasing an additional 119,471 shares during the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MSCI Price Performance

Shares of MSCI stock opened at $558.03 on Friday. MSCI Inc. has a 1-year low of $439.95 and a 1-year high of $642.45. The firm has a market cap of $43.33 billion, a PE ratio of 39.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a 50-day moving average of $578.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $588.73.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 in the prior year, the firm posted $3.68 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a $1.80 dividend. This is an increase from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. MSCI’s payout ratio is currently 51.21%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 5,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were acquired at an average price 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $729,599,549.01. The trade was a 0.42 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 3.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MSCI. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of 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 report on Wednesday, December 18th. 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 note on Thursday, January 30th. Wolfe Research upgraded MSCI from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $649.23.

About MSCI

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.