Polen Capital Management LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Polen Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 8.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,032,238 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 196,055 shares during the quarter. MSCI accounts for about 3.3% of Polen Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 15th largest position. Polen Capital Management LLC’s holdings in MSCI were worth $1,219,363,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. GWN Securities Inc. bought a new position in MSCI during the fourth quarter valued at $296,000. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its holdings in MSCI by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 4,391 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,635,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the period. Choate Investment Advisors grew its holdings in MSCI by 235.2% during the fourth quarter. Choate Investment Advisors now owns 18,098 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $10,859,000 after purchasing an additional 12,699 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its holdings in MSCI by 12.2% during the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 72,398 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $43,440,000 after purchasing an additional 7,874 shares during the period. Finally, Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC grew its holdings in MSCI by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 2,018 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,211,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. 89.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at MSCI

In other news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 5,300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $574.51 per share, for a total transaction of $3,044,903.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly 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 acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Stock Performance

NYSE:MSCI opened at $554.92 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.19. MSCI Inc. has a 52-week low of $439.95 and a 52-week high of $642.45. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $584.61 and a 200 day moving average of $589.15.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business earned $3.68 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on MSCI shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company 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. The Goldman Sachs Group raised MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $617.00 to $723.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Barclays cut their price target on MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. 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, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.