Ossiam Has $41.70 Million Stock Holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Ossiam lifted its stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 94.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 69,493 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 33,818 shares during the period. Ossiam’s holdings in MSCI were worth $41,696,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S purchased a new position in shares of MSCI in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,932,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in MSCI by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 267,049 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $160,234,000 after purchasing an additional 5,602 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in MSCI by 5,053.6% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 30,406 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $18,244,000 after purchasing an additional 29,816 shares in the last quarter. Forum Financial Management LP raised its stake in MSCI by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 553 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $332,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the period. Finally, Champlain Investment Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 40.1% in the fourth quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 134,850 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $80,911,000 after purchasing an additional 38,610 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of MSCI opened at $546.73 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $42.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.30. The company’s fifty day moving average is $558.86 and its 200-day moving average is $585.72. MSCI Inc. has a 12 month low of $439.95 and a 12 month high of $642.45.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 EPS 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 quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.68 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid a $1.80 dividend. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.32%. This is an increase from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.21%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 5,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $574.51 per share, for a total transaction of $3,044,903.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,269,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $729,599,549.01. The trade was a 0.42 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $524.25, for a total transaction of $2,621,250.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 294,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $154,542,084.75. This represents a 1.67 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate 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.