AGF Management Ltd. Increases Stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

AGF Management Ltd. increased its holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 11.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,561 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the quarter. AGF Management Ltd.’s holdings in MSCI were worth $937,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of MSCI by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,493,534 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $870,627,000 after acquiring an additional 37,340 shares during the last quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in MSCI by 30.0% in the 3rd quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 564 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $329,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. bought a new stake in MSCI in the third quarter valued at approximately $207,000. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in shares of MSCI by 11.8% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 12,208 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $7,116,000 after purchasing an additional 1,291 shares during the period. Finally, Huntington National Bank grew its holdings in shares of MSCI by 12.7% in the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 382 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $223,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on MSCI. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Wolfe Research raised MSCI from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $675.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $649.23.

Insider Buying and Selling at MSCI

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 5,300 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $574.51 per share, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 0.42 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

MSCI Price Performance

NYSE:MSCI opened at $554.92 on Friday. MSCI Inc. has a 1-year low of $439.95 and a 1-year high of $642.45. The company has a market capitalization of $43.09 billion, a PE ratio of 39.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.19. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $584.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $589.06.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced 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 in the previous year, the firm earned $3.68 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.30%. MSCI’s payout ratio is presently 51.21%.

MSCI Company 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.