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

Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 185,102 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 2,764 shares during the quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC owned about 0.23% of MSCI worth $104,703,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Optiver Holding B.V. acquired a new position in MSCI during the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. ORG Partners LLC boosted its holdings in MSCI by 5,600.0% in the third quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 57 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Headinvest LLC bought a new stake in MSCI during the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in MSCI during the 3rd quarter worth about $51,000. Finally, Quent Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of MSCI by 23.5% in the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 100 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MSCI opened at $467.04 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $534.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $536.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.00 billion, a PE ratio of 31.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.09. MSCI Inc. has a 52 week low of $439.95 and a 52 week high of $617.39.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $3.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.44 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $680.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $685.47 million. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 121.86% and a net margin of 44.55%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.14 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that MSCI Inc. will post 14.66 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on MSCI shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of MSCI from $671.00 to $615.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of MSCI in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. StockNews.com cut shares of MSCI from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on MSCI from $615.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $569.53.

Insider Transactions at MSCI

In other MSCI news, insider Scott A. Crum sold 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $471.69, for a total value of $4,245,210.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 12,831 shares in the company, valued at $6,052,254.39. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, COO Cd Baer Pettit acquired 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 25th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $459.41 per share, with a total value of $3,445,575.00. Following the completion of 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 is accessible through this link. Also, insider Scott A. Crum sold 9,000 shares of MSCI 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,052,254.39. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

MSCI Company 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.