MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Stock Holdings Lifted by Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 3.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 452,357 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,141 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in MSCI were worth $255,876,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Optiver Holding B.V. bought a new stake in MSCI in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. ORG Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of MSCI by 5,600.0% in the third quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 57 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Headinvest LLC acquired a new position in shares of MSCI during the third quarter valued at $30,000. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of MSCI during the third quarter valued at about $51,000. Finally, Quent Capital LLC lifted its holdings in MSCI by 23.5% in the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 100 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of MSCI from $615.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. StockNews.com downgraded MSCI from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of MSCI from $615.00 to $526.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on MSCI from $700.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $569.53.

Insider Activity

In other MSCI news, insider Scott A. Crum sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $471.69, for a total value of $4,245,210.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,831 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,052,254.39. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 13,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 25th. The shares were bought at an average price of $465.92 per share, with a total value of $6,056,960.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 327,479 shares in the company, valued at approximately $152,579,015.68. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Scott A. Crum sold 9,000 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $471.69, for a total value of $4,245,210.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,831 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,052,254.39. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

MSCI Stock Performance

NYSE:MSCI opened at $470.72 on Thursday. MSCI Inc. has a 52 week low of $439.95 and a 52 week high of $617.39. The company has a market capitalization of $37.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.13, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a 50-day moving average of $528.77 and a 200-day moving average of $536.16.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $3.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.44 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $680.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $685.47 million. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 121.86% and a net margin of 44.55%. The business’s revenue was up 14.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.14 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that MSCI Inc. will post 14.66 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be given a dividend of $1.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.36%. MSCI’s payout ratio is 43.69%.

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.