Scotia Capital Inc. Raises Position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Scotia Capital Inc. grew its stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 22.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 7,397 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,348 shares during the period. Scotia Capital Inc.’s holdings in MSCI were worth $4,438,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in MSCI in the 4th quarter worth about $609,937,000. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of MSCI by 16,353.6% in the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 587,557 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $352,539,000 after buying an additional 583,986 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in shares of MSCI by 169.4% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 507,413 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $304,453,000 after acquiring an additional 319,083 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $185,003,000. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in MSCI during the fourth quarter worth $126,082,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $524.25, for a total transaction of $2,621,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 294,787 shares in the company, valued at approximately $154,542,084.75. This trade represents a 1.67 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 5,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was bought 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 owns 1,269,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $729,599,549.01. The trade was a 0.42 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 3.31% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

MSCI Price Performance

MSCI stock opened at $542.26 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.57, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.30. MSCI Inc. has a one year low of $439.95 and a one year high of $642.45. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $562.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $586.71.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its 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 negative return on equity of 156.08% and a net margin of 38.83%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.68 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.33%. This is a boost from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. MSCI’s payout ratio is currently 51.21%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of MSCI from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 4th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of MSCI in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $585.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of MSCI from $623.00 to $532.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $675.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $646.58.

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.