Advisors Capital Management LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Advisors Capital Management LLC increased its stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 2.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,288 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 207 shares during the period. Advisors Capital Management LLC’s holdings in MSCI were worth $6,173,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA acquired a new stake in MSCI in the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd raised its holdings in MSCI by 122.7% in the fourth quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 98 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management acquired a new stake in MSCI in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $60,000. Private Trust Co. NA lifted its stake in MSCI by 46.8% in the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 113 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $68,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in MSCI by 21.9% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 117 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $70,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MSCI Price Performance

MSCI stock opened at $542.26 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $42.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $562.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $586.85. MSCI Inc. has a 12 month low of $439.95 and a 12 month high of $642.45.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm earned $3.68 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current 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 given a dividend of $1.80 per share. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.33%. This is a boost 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%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of MSCI from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $617.00 to $723.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on MSCI from $623.00 to $532.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $675.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of MSCI in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $585.00 price target on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $646.58.

Insider Buying and Selling at MSCI

In other news, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $524.25, for a total value of $2,621,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 294,787 shares in the company, valued at approximately $154,542,084.75. This trade represents a 1.67 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 5,300 shares of the 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 acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 1,269,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $729,599,549.01. This represents a 0.42 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 3.31% of the company’s stock.

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.