Keystone Investors PTE Ltd. Has $1.15 Million Stock Holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Keystone Investors PTE Ltd. lessened its holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 69.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,909 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 4,303 shares during the period. Keystone Investors PTE Ltd.’s holdings in MSCI were worth $1,145,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MSCI. LRI Investments LLC raised its position 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 purchasing 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. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA acquired a new stake in MSCI during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Private Trust Co. NA raised its holdings in MSCI by 35.1% during the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 77 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Y.D. More Investments Ltd lifted its position in shares of MSCI by 122.7% in the 4th quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 98 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

MSCI Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:MSCI opened at $566.72 on Tuesday. MSCI Inc. has a twelve month low of $439.95 and a twelve month high of $642.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.01 billion, a PE ratio of 40.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.19. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $581.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $588.73.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 period in the prior year, the business earned $3.68 EPS. Analysts expect 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $1.80 per share. This is a boost from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.27%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.21%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $675.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Wolfe Research raised MSCI from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $649.23.

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.