Korea Investment CORP Increases Stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Korea Investment CORP raised its holdings in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 24.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 44,070 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,700 shares during the quarter. Korea Investment CORP’s holdings in MSCI were worth $26,442,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. LRI Investments LLC grew its holdings in MSCI by 120.0% during the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 44 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new position in shares of MSCI during the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA bought a new position in shares of MSCI during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Private Trust Co. NA raised its stake in MSCI by 35.1% during the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 77 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Finally, Y.D. More Investments Ltd lifted its holdings in MSCI by 122.7% during the fourth quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 98 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at MSCI

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 5,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was 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 represents a 0.42 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

MSCI Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MSCI 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $578.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $588.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.69, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.19.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last released 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 negative return on equity of 156.08% and a net margin of 38.83%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.68 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate 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. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $1.80 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.29%. MSCI’s payout ratio is currently 51.21%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSCI has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $675.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays decreased their price target on MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised 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. 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, MSCI has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.