MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Stock Position Raised by Machina Capital S.A.S.

Machina Capital S.A.S. lifted its stake in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 183.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,912 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,886 shares during the quarter. Machina Capital S.A.S.’s holdings in MSCI were worth $1,747,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of MSCI. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of MSCI by 6.9% in the third quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 452 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $264,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the period. M&G PLC acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI in the third quarter worth $10,045,000. Graypoint LLC boosted its position in shares of MSCI by 16.6% in the third quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 1,218 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $710,000 after buying an additional 173 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of MSCI by 2.6% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,493,534 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $870,627,000 after buying an additional 37,340 shares during the period. Finally, Olympiad Research LP acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI in the third quarter worth $202,000. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

MSCI Price Performance

NYSE MSCI opened at $562.01 on Friday. MSCI Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $439.95 and a fifty-two week high of $642.45. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $590.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $589.82. The firm has a market cap of $43.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.19.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 period last year, the firm earned $3.68 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 was Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.28%. MSCI’s payout ratio is presently 51.21%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MSCI. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $675.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a report on Thursday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $617.00 to $723.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Wolfe Research upgraded MSCI from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $649.23.

Insider Transactions at MSCI

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 5,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $574.51 per share, for a total transaction of $3,044,903.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now 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 position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.