Parallel Advisors LLC Has $475,000 Stock Position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 10.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 791 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 74 shares during the quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC’s holdings in MSCI were worth $475,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MSCI. GWN Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of MSCI during the fourth quarter worth approximately $296,000. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its position in MSCI by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 4,391 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,635,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Choate Investment Advisors increased its holdings in shares of MSCI by 235.2% during the 4th quarter. Choate Investment Advisors now owns 18,098 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $10,859,000 after purchasing an additional 12,699 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of MSCI by 12.2% during the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 72,398 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $43,440,000 after buying an additional 7,874 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of MSCI by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 2,018 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,211,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 5,300 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were bought at an average price of $574.51 per share, with a total value of $3,044,903.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on MSCI. 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. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Wolfe Research raised shares of MSCI from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $617.00 to $723.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered 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 analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $649.23.

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MSCI opened at $562.98 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $581.93 and a 200-day moving average of $588.55. MSCI Inc. has a twelve month low of $439.95 and a twelve month high of $642.45. The firm has a market cap of $43.72 billion, a PE ratio of 40.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.19.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its earnings results 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 in the prior year, the firm earned $3.68 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a $1.80 dividend. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.28%. This is a positive change from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.