Mizuho Securities USA LLC Purchases 2,328 Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 45.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,428 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,328 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC’s holdings in MSCI were worth $4,457,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp boosted its stake in MSCI by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,192,364 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,860,925,000 after purchasing an additional 11,351 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in MSCI by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,862,362 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,082,594,000 after purchasing an additional 13,691 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in MSCI by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,613,005 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $967,820,000 after purchasing an additional 119,471 shares in the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp lifted its stake in MSCI by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 1,148,615 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $689,180,000 after acquiring an additional 49,679 shares during the period. Finally, PineStone Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in MSCI by 17.4% during the 4th quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 569,374 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $341,630,000 after acquiring an additional 84,354 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 5,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $574.51 per share, for a total transaction of $3,044,903.00. Following 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 trade represents a 0.42 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

MSCI Trading Down 0.5 %

MSCI stock opened at $562.98 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $581.93 and a 200 day moving average of $588.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.19. MSCI Inc. has a 12-month low of $439.95 and a 12-month high of $642.45.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 earnings per share (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 period last year, the business posted $3.68 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $1.80 dividend. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.28%. This is a positive change from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.21%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on MSCI shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of 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 upgraded shares of MSCI from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $617.00 to $723.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $649.23.

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.