Allworth Financial LP Grows Position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Allworth Financial LP raised its position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 8.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 256 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the quarter. Allworth Financial LP’s holdings in MSCI were worth $157,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of MSCI by 15.8% during 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 raised its holdings in shares of MSCI by 19,331.1% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 26,232 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $15,291,000 after buying an additional 26,097 shares during the period. Values First Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI during the 3rd quarter valued at about $133,000. Dakota Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of MSCI by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 4,075 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,375,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the period. Finally, Tectonic Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of MSCI by 55.5% during the 3rd quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 1,197 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $698,000 after buying an additional 427 shares during the period. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at MSCI

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 2,900 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $612.80 per share, for a total transaction of $1,777,120.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 330,379 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $202,456,251.20. This trade represents a 0.89 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on MSCI shares. UBS Group dropped their target price on MSCI from $695.00 to $680.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $617.00 to $723.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Wolfe Research upgraded MSCI from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays dropped their price objective on MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $675.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, MSCI has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $649.23.

MSCI Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of MSCI opened at $578.71 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $44.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.16, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.11. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $596.24 and a 200-day moving average of $587.52. MSCI Inc. has a 52 week low of $439.95 and a 52 week high of $642.45.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued 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 negative return on equity of 156.08% and a net margin of 38.83%. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.68 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $1.80 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.24%. This is a positive change from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. MSCI’s payout ratio is currently 51.21%.

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.