MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) is Bristol Gate Capital Partners Inc.’s 2nd Largest Position

Bristol Gate Capital Partners Inc. lessened its holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 187,211 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 1,519 shares during the quarter. MSCI makes up about 5.5% of Bristol Gate Capital Partners Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Bristol Gate Capital Partners Inc.’s holdings in MSCI were worth $112,328,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MSCI. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of MSCI by 30.9% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 174,982 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $104,991,000 after purchasing an additional 41,346 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in MSCI by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 536,211 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $312,574,000 after buying an additional 23,050 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC boosted its position in MSCI by 176.2% in the 3rd quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 1,580 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $921,000 after buying an additional 1,008 shares during the last quarter. Nvwm LLC grew its stake in shares of MSCI by 3,581.3% during the fourth quarter. Nvwm LLC now owns 1,767 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,060,000 after acquiring an additional 1,719 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of MSCI by 76.3% during the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 2,992 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,795,000 after acquiring an additional 1,295 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Price Performance

NYSE:MSCI opened at $507.57 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.30. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $572.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $588.66. MSCI Inc. has a 12-month low of $439.95 and a 12-month high of $642.45.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 prior year, the business earned $3.68 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a $1.80 dividend. This is a boost from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.42%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is 51.21%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on MSCI shares. Wolfe Research raised MSCI from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of 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 upgraded shares of MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $617.00 to $723.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of MSCI from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MSCI currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $647.31.

Insider Buying and Selling at MSCI

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 5,300 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,269,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $729,599,549.01. This trade represents a 0.42 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 3.31% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.