Savant Capital LLC Buys Shares of 359 MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Savant Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 359 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $203,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MSCI. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its position in MSCI by 14.6% in the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 7,031 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,608,000 after purchasing an additional 897 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of MSCI by 9.4% during the third quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 1,400 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $718,000 after buying an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of MSCI by 2.6% in the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 8,475 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,349,000 after acquiring an additional 218 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in MSCI by 7.5% during the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 24,636 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $12,640,000 after acquiring an additional 1,718 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its holdings in MSCI by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 9,061 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,489,000 after purchasing an additional 595 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of MSCI stock opened at $471.40 on Wednesday. MSCI Inc. has a 52-week low of $439.95 and a 52-week high of $617.39. The stock has a market cap of $37.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.18, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.09. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $528.77 and its 200-day moving average is $536.16.

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

MSCI Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Shareholders 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 yield of 1.36%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.69%.

Insider Buying and Selling at MSCI

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on MSCI. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on MSCI from $671.00 to $615.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of MSCI from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $613.00 to $569.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of MSCI in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $638.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $569.53.

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.