210,133 Shares in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Acquired by Proficio Capital Partners LLC

Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 210,133 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $126,082,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in MSCI by 30.0% during the 3rd quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 564 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $329,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in MSCI by 30.9% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 174,982 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $104,991,000 after acquiring an additional 41,346 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in MSCI by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 536,211 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $312,574,000 after acquiring an additional 23,050 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its stake in MSCI by 339.6% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 26,834 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $15,642,000 after acquiring an additional 20,730 shares during the period. Finally, Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC lifted its stake in MSCI by 176.2% during the 3rd quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 1,580 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $921,000 after acquiring an additional 1,008 shares during the period. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 2,900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were bought at an average price of $612.80 per share, with a total value of $1,777,120.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 330,379 shares in the company, valued at $202,456,251.20. This trade represents a 0.89 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MSCI opened at $581.09 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $45.12 billion, a PE ratio of 41.33, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.11. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $594.03 and a 200 day moving average of $588.93. MSCI Inc. has a one year low of $439.95 and a one year high of $642.45.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 last year, the firm posted $3.68 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $1.80 per share. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. MSCI’s payout ratio is 51.21%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on MSCI. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $675.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of MSCI from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.