Fisher Asset Management LLC Buys 2,764 Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 185,102 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,764 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC’s holdings in MSCI were worth $104,703,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in MSCI. Optiver Holding B.V. acquired a new position in shares of MSCI during the third quarter valued at about $26,000. ORG Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of MSCI by 5,600.0% during the third quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 57 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Headinvest LLC purchased a new position in MSCI during the third quarter worth about $30,000. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in MSCI in the 3rd quarter worth about $51,000. Finally, Quent Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of MSCI by 23.5% during the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 100 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other MSCI news, insider Scott A. Crum sold 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $471.69, for a total value of $4,245,210.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,831 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,052,254.39. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other MSCI news, COO Cd Baer Pettit bought 7,500 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 25th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $459.41 per share, with a total value of $3,445,575.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 291,038 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $133,705,767.58. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Scott A. Crum sold 9,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $471.69, for a total transaction of $4,245,210.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,831 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,052,254.39. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Price Performance

Shares of MSCI stock opened at $467.04 on Friday. MSCI Inc. has a one year low of $439.95 and a one year high of $617.39. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $534.39 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $536.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.09.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $3.52 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.44 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $680.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $685.47 million. MSCI had a net margin of 44.55% and a negative return on equity of 121.86%. The firm’s revenue was up 14.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.14 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that MSCI Inc. will post 14.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be issued a $1.60 dividend. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.69%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Bank of America upgraded MSCI from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $425.00 to $525.00 in a report on Tuesday. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Raymond James restated a “market perform” rating on shares of MSCI in a report on Friday, January 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of MSCI from $615.00 to $526.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $569.53.

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.