536 Shares in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Purchased by PUREfi Wealth LLC

PUREfi Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 536 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $322,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. LRI Investments LLC increased its position in MSCI by 120.0% in the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 44 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new stake in MSCI in the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in MSCI in the 3rd quarter valued at about $40,000. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA acquired a new stake in MSCI in the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp increased its position in MSCI by 35.1% in the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 77 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Price Performance

MSCI stock opened at $572.78 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $602.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $586.05. MSCI Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $439.95 and a fifty-two week high of $642.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.74, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 1.11.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 earnings per share 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 quarter last year, the business posted $3.68 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $1.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.26%. This is a positive change from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. MSCI’s payout ratio is presently 45.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling at MSCI

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 2,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $612.80 per share, with a total value of $1,777,120.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 330,379 shares in the company, valued at $202,456,251.20. This represents a 0.89 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSCI has been the subject of several research reports. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of MSCI from $695.00 to $680.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $675.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of 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 research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, MSCI currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $649.23.

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.