Victory Capital Management Inc. Raises Position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 5.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 55,389 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,710 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned about 0.07% of MSCI worth $33,234,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. LRI Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new stake in MSCI during the third quarter worth about $38,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in MSCI during the third quarter worth about $40,000. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA purchased a new stake in MSCI during the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 5,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was purchased 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 approximately $729,599,549.01. This trade represents a 0.42 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Price Performance

NYSE:MSCI opened at $562.01 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $590.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $590.20. The firm has a market cap of $43.64 billion, a PE ratio of 39.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.19. MSCI Inc. has a 1-year low of $439.95 and a 1-year high of $642.45.

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, beating 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 firm earned $3.68 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect 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 was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a $1.80 dividend. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. MSCI’s payout ratio is currently 51.21%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock 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. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Wolfe Research raised shares of MSCI from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $617.00 to $723.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.