Nutshell Asset Management Ltd Makes New Investment in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Nutshell Asset Management Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 16,016 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,610,000. MSCI comprises about 6.1% of Nutshell Asset Management Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of MSCI. CWA Asset Management Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of MSCI by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 418 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $251,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares during the period. Angeles Wealth Management LLC grew its position in MSCI by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 492 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $295,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC increased its stake in MSCI by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 2,044 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,227,000 after buying an additional 19 shares during the period. Perigon Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of MSCI by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 575 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $351,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Finally, Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of MSCI by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC now owns 3,325 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,995,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

MSCI Stock Performance

MSCI stock opened at $507.57 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $572.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $588.18. The firm has a market cap of $39.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.30. MSCI Inc. has a 52 week low of $439.95 and a 52 week 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 period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.68 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current 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 issued a $1.80 dividend. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.21%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays cut their price target on MSCI from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $617.00 to $723.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Wolfe Research upgraded MSCI from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $675.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $647.31.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 5,300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $574.51 per share, for a total transaction of $3,044,903.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,269,951 shares in the company, valued at approximately $729,599,549.01. This represents a 0.42 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 3.31% of the company’s stock.

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.