MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Shares Sold by Candriam S.C.A.

Candriam S.C.A. decreased its stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 23,603 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 276 shares during the period. Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings in MSCI were worth $14,162,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in MSCI by 20.2% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 791 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $461,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the period. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI in the 3rd quarter worth about $258,000. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in MSCI by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 452 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $264,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. M&G PLC acquired a new position in MSCI during the 3rd quarter valued at about $10,045,000. Finally, Graypoint LLC grew its position in MSCI by 16.6% in the 3rd quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 1,218 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $710,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MSCI. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $617.00 to $723.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Wolfe Research raised MSCI from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $649.23.

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MSCI opened at $565.84 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.24, a PEG 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. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $590.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $589.81.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm posted $3.68 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 EPS for the current fiscal 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 paid a $1.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.27%. This is a boost from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.21%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 5,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were bought 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 directly owns 1,269,951 shares in the company, valued at $729,599,549.01. This trade represents a 0.42 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Company 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.