MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Shares Bought by Benin Management CORP

Benin Management CORP increased its position in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 31.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,598 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 384 shares during the quarter. Benin Management CORP’s holdings in MSCI were worth $959,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Edgewood Management LLC raised its position in shares of MSCI by 16.9% during the 3rd quarter. Edgewood Management LLC now owns 2,195,639 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,279,904,000 after purchasing an additional 318,214 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in MSCI by 14.3% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,587,723 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $925,531,000 after buying an additional 198,666 shares during the period. Canoe Financial LP lifted its stake in MSCI by 700.4% in the fourth quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 186,131 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $111,680,000 after buying an additional 162,877 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 358.3% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 133,636 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $77,900,000 after acquiring an additional 104,474 shares during the period. Finally, Champlain Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of MSCI during the third quarter worth about $56,101,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 2,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were bought at an average price of $612.80 per share, for a total transaction of $1,777,120.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 330,379 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $202,456,251.20. This trade represents a 0.89 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

MSCI Price Performance

Shares of MSCI opened at $620.22 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $604.77 and its 200-day moving average is $577.47. MSCI Inc. has a 12-month low of $439.95 and a 12-month high of $642.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 1.11.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The technology company reported $3.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.77 by $0.09. MSCI had a net margin of 43.06% and a negative return on equity of 162.06%. The firm had revenue of $724.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $716.15 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.45 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that MSCI Inc. will post 14.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were given a dividend of $1.60 per share. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.02%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of MSCI from $570.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $680.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $638.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised MSCI from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $649.85.

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.