Nordea Investment Management AB Has $524.42 Million Position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Nordea Investment Management AB trimmed its holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 15.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 868,294 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 164,330 shares during the quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB owned about 1.11% of MSCI worth $524,415,000 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. HWG Holdings LP bought a new stake in shares of MSCI during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. LRI Investments LLC boosted its stake in MSCI by 120.0% during the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 44 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new stake in MSCI in the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in MSCI during the 3rd quarter worth $40,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp raised its position in shares of MSCI by 35.1% during the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 77 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Stock Up 0.7 %

NYSE:MSCI opened at $601.48 on Monday. MSCI Inc. has a twelve month low of $439.95 and a twelve month high of $642.45. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $601.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $567.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.14 billion, a PE ratio of 39.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.11.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The technology company reported $3.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.77 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $724.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $716.15 million. MSCI had a net margin of 43.06% and a negative return on equity of 162.06%. The firm’s revenue was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.45 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc. will post 14.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were paid a dividend of $1.60 per share. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. MSCI’s payout ratio is 42.02%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on MSCI. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $690.00 target price on the stock. 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 note on Thursday, December 12th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $680.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of MSCI from $570.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of MSCI from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $645.67.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 2,900 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $612.80 per share, with a total value of $1,777,120.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 330,379 shares in the company, valued at approximately $202,456,251.20. This trade represents a 0.89 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by 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.