MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Shares Sold by Fisher Asset Management LLC

Fisher Asset Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 28.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 103,147 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 41,781 shares during the quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC’s holdings in MSCI were worth $61,890,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MSCI. Edgewood Management LLC boosted its holdings in MSCI by 16.9% in the 3rd quarter. Edgewood Management LLC now owns 2,195,639 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,279,904,000 after purchasing an additional 318,214 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in MSCI in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $126,082,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in MSCI by 14.3% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,587,723 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $925,531,000 after purchasing an additional 198,666 shares in the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP boosted its holdings in MSCI by 700.4% in the 4th quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 186,131 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $111,680,000 after purchasing an additional 162,877 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Funds Management LTD purchased a new stake in MSCI in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $82,722,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Price Performance

Shares of MSCI stock opened at $590.15 on Friday. MSCI Inc. has a 1 year low of $439.95 and a 1 year high of $642.45. The company has a market capitalization of $45.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.11. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $593.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $589.63.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 in the prior year, the company posted $3.68 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $1.80 per share. This is an increase from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. MSCI’s payout ratio is currently 51.21%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Buying and Selling at MSCI

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 2,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $612.80 per share, for a total transaction of $1,777,120.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 330,379 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $202,456,251.20. The trade was a 0.89 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About MSCI

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.