New York Life Investment Management LLC Has $6.29 Million Holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

New York Life Investment Management LLC cut its stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 9.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,481 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 1,112 shares during the period. New York Life Investment Management LLC’s holdings in MSCI were worth $6,289,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Walter Public Investments Inc. lifted its position in MSCI by 18.5% during the 4th quarter. Walter Public Investments Inc. now owns 23,265 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $13,959,000 after buying an additional 3,634 shares in the last quarter. SRN Advisors LLC lifted its position in MSCI by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. SRN Advisors LLC now owns 2,505 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,503,000 after buying an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in MSCI during the 4th quarter worth about $75,000. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC lifted its position in MSCI by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC now owns 3,993 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,396,000 after buying an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FFT Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in MSCI during the 4th quarter worth about $296,000. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

MSCI Stock Performance

MSCI stock opened at $590.15 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $593.74 and a 200-day moving average price of $589.33. The company has a market capitalization of $45.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.97, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.11. MSCI Inc. has a 52-week low of $439.95 and a 52-week high of $642.45.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 earnings per share (EPS) 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 prior year, the company earned $3.68 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $1.80 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.22%. This is an increase from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.21%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MSCI shares. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of MSCI from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $675.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $649.23.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 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, with a total value of $3,044,903.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,269,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $729,599,549.01. This represents a 0.42 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

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.