Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Grows Stock Holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its stake in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 42.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 86,288 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 25,741 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned 0.11% of MSCI worth $51,774,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA bought a new stake in MSCI during the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd grew its position in shares of MSCI by 122.7% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management bought a new position in shares of MSCI in the fourth quarter worth $60,000. Private Trust Co. NA raised its position in shares of MSCI by 46.8% in the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 113 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $68,000 after buying an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in MSCI by 21.9% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 117 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $70,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the period. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

MSCI Price Performance

Shares of MSCI stock opened at $546.73 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.30. MSCI Inc. has a one year low of $439.95 and a one year high of $642.45. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $558.86 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $585.72.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company posted $3.68 earnings per share. Sell-side 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. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $1.80 per share. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. MSCI’s payout ratio is currently 51.21%.

Insider Buying and Selling at MSCI

In other news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 5,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were acquired at an average cost 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 in the company, valued at $729,599,549.01. The trade was a 0.42 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $524.25, for a total value of $2,621,250.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 294,787 shares in the company, valued at $154,542,084.75. This trade represents a 1.67 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSCI has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays lowered their price target on MSCI from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of MSCI from $532.00 to $530.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of MSCI in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $585.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on MSCI from $680.00 to $650.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $675.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, MSCI currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $643.92.

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.