Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC Increases Stock Holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 2.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,018 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 50 shares during the quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC’s holdings in MSCI were worth $1,211,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp raised its position in MSCI by 0.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,192,364 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,860,925,000 after acquiring an additional 11,351 shares during the last quarter. Edgewood Management LLC increased its stake in shares of MSCI by 16.9% during the 3rd quarter. Edgewood Management LLC now owns 2,195,639 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,279,904,000 after purchasing an additional 318,214 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of MSCI by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,862,362 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,082,594,000 after purchasing an additional 13,691 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted 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 buying an additional 119,471 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in MSCI by 14.3% during 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 last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at MSCI

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 5,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was purchased at an average price 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 in the company, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

MSCI Price Performance

MSCI stock opened at $554.92 on Friday. MSCI Inc. has a 12 month low of $439.95 and a 12 month high of $642.45. The company has a market cap of $43.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.19. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $584.61 and its 200-day moving average is $589.09.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.68 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were issued 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 1.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.21%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on MSCI shares. The Goldman Sachs Group raised MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $617.00 to $723.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $675.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus 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.