Manning & Napier Advisors LLC Has $73.08 Million Stock Position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC lessened its stake in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 6.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 121,804 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 8,480 shares during the period. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC owned about 0.16% of MSCI worth $73,084,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MSCI. Invesco LLC acquired a new position in MSCI during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $203,000. Swedbank AB lifted its holdings in MSCI by 10.0% in the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 169,532 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $101,721,000 after buying an additional 15,425 shares during the period. Forsta AP Fonden lifted its stake in MSCI by 23.5% in the fourth quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 29,400 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $17,640,000 after buying an additional 5,600 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its position in shares of MSCI by 19.6% during the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 54,469 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $32,682,000 after buying an additional 8,919 shares during the period. Finally, R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of MSCI in the 4th quarter valued at $372,000. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at MSCI

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 2,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $612.80 per share, with a total value of $1,777,120.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 330,379 shares in the company, valued at $202,456,251.20. This represents a 0.89 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MSCI traded down $31.77 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $596.57. 196,596 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 413,435. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $606.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $581.42. MSCI Inc. has a 52-week low of $439.95 and a 52-week high of $642.45. The company has a market cap of $46.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.09, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 1.11.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.96 by $0.22. MSCI had a net margin of 43.06% and a negative return on equity of 162.06%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.68 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc. will post 14.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on MSCI. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of MSCI from $695.00 to $680.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $690.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $638.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on MSCI from $570.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $649.85.

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.