GFI Investment Counsel Ltd. Boosts Stock Position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

GFI Investment Counsel Ltd. lifted its position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 116,611 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 1,239 shares during the period. MSCI accounts for 8.0% of GFI Investment Counsel Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. GFI Investment Counsel Ltd.’s holdings in MSCI were worth $69,968,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. National Bank of Canada FI raised its holdings in shares of MSCI by 187.8% in the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 196,148 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $117,691,000 after purchasing an additional 128,001 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its holdings in MSCI by 19.1% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 249,035 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $149,423,000 after buying an additional 39,978 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its stake in MSCI by 14.3% in the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 12,818 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $7,691,000 after buying an additional 1,606 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its holdings in MSCI by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 276,297 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $165,781,000 after buying an additional 13,360 shares during the period. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its position in MSCI by 17.9% during the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 226,303 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $135,784,000 after acquiring an additional 34,314 shares in the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSCI has been the subject of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $617.00 to $723.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Wolfe Research raised shares of MSCI from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report 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 report on Thursday, January 30th. 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $675.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $649.23.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 5,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $574.51 per share, with a total value of $3,044,903.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,269,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $729,599,549.01. This trade represents a 0.42 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 3.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

MSCI Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:MSCI opened at $565.66 on Tuesday. MSCI Inc. has a twelve month low of $439.95 and a twelve month high of $642.45. The company has a market cap of $43.92 billion, a PE ratio of 40.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.19. The company’s 50 day moving average is $577.89 and its 200 day moving average is $588.96.

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 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 period last year, the company earned $3.68 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

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

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.