Versor Investments LP Makes New $1.55 Million Investment in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Versor Investments LP bought a new stake in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 2,578 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,547,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MSCI. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its position in MSCI by 15.8% in the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 945 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $551,000 after buying an additional 129 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 19,331.1% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 26,232 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $15,291,000 after purchasing an additional 26,097 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 17.8% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 4,995 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,878,000 after purchasing an additional 756 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in MSCI by 16.4% in the third quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,878 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,261,000 after purchasing an additional 547 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pallas Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in MSCI by 65.8% during the 3rd quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,419 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,428,000 after purchasing an additional 960 shares during the period. 89.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on MSCI. Barclays lowered their target price on MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of MSCI from $695.00 to $680.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $675.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MSCI has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $649.23.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 5,300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $574.51 per share, for a total transaction of $3,044,903.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,269,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $729,599,549.01. This represents a 0.42 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

MSCI Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MSCI opened at $579.16 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $594.42 and its 200 day moving average is $588.98. MSCI Inc. has a 1 year low of $439.95 and a 1 year high of $642.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.11.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 38.83% and a negative return on equity of 156.08%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.68 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $1.80 dividend. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is 51.21%.

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.