MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Position Boosted by Jones Financial Companies Lllp

Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 116.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,237 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,739 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp’s holdings in MSCI were worth $1,942,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of MSCI by 20.2% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 791 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $461,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC acquired a new position in MSCI during the 3rd quarter valued at about $258,000. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of MSCI by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 452 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $264,000 after buying an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. M&G PLC acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $10,045,000. Finally, Graypoint LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 16.6% in the third quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 1,218 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $710,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Stock Performance

MSCI stock opened at $565.84 on Friday. MSCI Inc. has a 52 week low of $439.95 and a 52 week high of $642.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.19. 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 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 previous year, the firm earned $3.68 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $1.80 per share. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. MSCI’s payout ratio is 51.21%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 5,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $574.51 per share, for a total transaction of $3,044,903.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 1,269,951 shares in the company, valued at $729,599,549.01. This represents a 0.42 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 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 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 raised their target price for the company from $617.00 to $723.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MSCI has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.