350 Shares in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Acquired by Proficio Capital Partners LLC

Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 350 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $210,000.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in MSCI by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,493,534 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $870,627,000 after buying an additional 37,340 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of MSCI by 32.1% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 107 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its position in shares of MSCI by 15.1% in the third quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 701 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $409,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA grew its position in MSCI by 35.1% during the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 77 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Qsemble Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of MSCI in the third quarter valued at $210,000. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 5,300 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $574.51 per share, with a total value of $3,044,903.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 1,269,951 shares in the company, valued at $729,599,549.01. This trade represents a 0.42 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on MSCI shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $617.00 to $723.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised MSCI from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $649.23.

MSCI Price Performance

MSCI opened at $565.72 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $43.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.19. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $579.90 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $588.55. MSCI Inc. has a 1 year low of $439.95 and a 1 year 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 negative return on equity of 156.08% and a net margin of 38.83%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.68 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate 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 was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a $1.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.27%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.