Prudential Financial Inc. Acquires 93,337 Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Prudential Financial Inc. raised its holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 77.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 213,423 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 93,337 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in MSCI were worth $128,056,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. LRI Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of MSCI by 120.0% during the third 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 period. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new position in shares of MSCI in the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA acquired a new position in MSCI during the fourth quarter worth approximately $41,000. Private Trust Co. NA raised its stake in MSCI by 35.1% in the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 77 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Finally, Y.D. More Investments Ltd raised its position in shares of MSCI by 122.7% in the fourth quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 98 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSCI has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wolfe Research raised shares of MSCI from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays reduced their price target on MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $675.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $617.00 to $723.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, MSCI has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $649.23.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 5,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were bought at an average price of $574.51 per share, for a total transaction of $3,044,903.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,269,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $729,599,549.01. This trade represents a 0.42 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 3.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

MSCI Price Performance

MSCI stock opened at $562.98 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $43.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.19. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $581.93 and its 200 day moving average is $588.76. MSCI Inc. has a one year low of $439.95 and a one year high of $642.45.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last posted 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 in the previous year, the firm earned $3.68 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $1.80 dividend. This is an increase from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. MSCI’s 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.