Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Boosts Holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 62.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 58,061 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 22,285 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in MSCI were worth $34,837,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in MSCI by 30.9% in 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 buying an additional 41,346 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of MSCI by 4.5% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC boosted its stake in shares of MSCI by 176.2% during the third 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 last quarter. Nvwm LLC increased its position in MSCI by 3,581.3% during the 4th quarter. Nvwm LLC now owns 1,767 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,060,000 after purchasing an additional 1,719 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC increased its position in MSCI by 76.3% during the 4th quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 2,992 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,795,000 after purchasing an additional 1,295 shares in the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on MSCI shares. Barclays decreased their price target 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. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $675.00 price target 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 increased their price target for the stock from $617.00 to $723.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MSCI has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $649.23.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 5,300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $729,599,549.01. The trade was a 0.42 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

MSCI Stock Performance

MSCI opened at $565.72 on Friday. MSCI Inc. has a 1 year low of $439.95 and a 1 year high of $642.45. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $582.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $588.67. The company has a market cap of $43.93 billion, a PE ratio of 40.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.19.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.68 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 1.27%. This is a positive change from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.21%.

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.