Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Has $44.10 Million Holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P decreased its holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 5.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 73,506 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 4,295 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P’s holdings in MSCI were worth $44,104,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in MSCI. 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 in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new position in MSCI in the 3rd quarter worth about $38,000. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI during the 4th quarter worth about $41,000. Private Trust Co. NA lifted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 35.1% during the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 77 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Y.D. More Investments Ltd grew its stake 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 valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 5,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was acquired 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 approximately $729,599,549.01. This represents a 0.42 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

MSCI Price Performance

Shares of MSCI stock opened at $565.72 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $43.93 billion, a PE ratio of 40.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.19. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $579.90 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $588.55. MSCI Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $439.95 and a fifty-two week high of $642.45.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company posted $3.68 earnings per share. Analysts expect that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $1.80 dividend. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.27%. 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. MSCI’s payout ratio is 51.21%.

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.