Marks Group Wealth Management Inc Grows Stock Holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Marks Group Wealth Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 3.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,792 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 558 shares during the quarter. MSCI comprises about 1.1% of Marks Group Wealth Management Inc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc’s holdings in MSCI were worth $10,064,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MSCI. Optiver Holding B.V. bought a new position in MSCI during the third quarter valued at $26,000. ORG Partners LLC increased its position in MSCI by 5,600.0% during the third quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 57 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Headinvest LLC bought a new position in MSCI during the third quarter valued at $30,000. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in MSCI by 105.1% during the third quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 80 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arlington Trust Co LLC bought a new position in shares of MSCI in the third quarter worth about $45,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSCI has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of MSCI from $615.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of MSCI in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Barclays upped their price target on shares of MSCI from $600.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $620.00 to $470.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Raymond James restated a “market perform” rating on shares of MSCI in a report on Friday, January 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $581.57.

MSCI Price Performance

Shares of MSCI stock traded up $5.03 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $515.10. 914,734 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 466,590. The stock has a market cap of $40.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.06. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $550.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $539.55. MSCI Inc. has a 52-week low of $451.55 and a 52-week high of $617.39.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The technology company reported $3.68 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.29 by $0.39. The business had revenue of $690.11 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $662.64 million. MSCI had a net margin of 45.42% and a negative return on equity of 111.17%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 19.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.84 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that MSCI Inc. will post 14.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 29th. Investors of record on Friday, February 16th were given a $1.60 dividend. This is a positive change from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.38. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.44%.

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.