ING Groep NV Has $2.13 Million Holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

ING Groep NV cut its position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 10.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,542 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 422 shares during the period. ING Groep NV’s holdings in MSCI were worth $2,125,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. LRI Investments LLC grew its position in shares of MSCI by 120.0% in the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 44 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new stake in MSCI in the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in MSCI during the third quarter worth about $40,000. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA acquired a new position in MSCI during the fourth quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp raised its stake in MSCI by 35.1% in the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 77 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MSCI Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of MSCI stock opened at $578.71 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $44.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.11. MSCI Inc. has a 1 year low of $439.95 and a 1 year high of $642.45. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $596.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $587.52.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business posted $3.68 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.24%. This is an increase from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.21%.

Insider Buying and Selling at MSCI

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 2,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $612.80 per share, for a total transaction of $1,777,120.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 330,379 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $202,456,251.20. This trade represents a 0.89 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on MSCI. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $617.00 to $723.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $675.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of MSCI from $695.00 to $680.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, MSCI presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $649.23.

About MSCI

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.