International Assets Investment Management LLC Has $5.76 Million Position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 13,659.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,182 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,108 shares during the quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC’s holdings in MSCI were worth $5,759,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in MSCI by 59.6% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 762,080 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $391,008,000 after acquiring an additional 284,513 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in shares of MSCI by 32.5% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 959,894 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $492,502,000 after buying an additional 235,290 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of MSCI by 468.7% in the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 244,267 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $125,329,000 after buying an additional 201,317 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of MSCI by 14.0% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,460,634 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $749,422,000 after acquiring an additional 179,508 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Polen Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of MSCI in the third quarter worth approximately $71,444,000. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at MSCI

In other MSCI news, insider Scott A. Crum sold 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $471.69, for a total value 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 13,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 25th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $465.92 per share, with a total value of $6,056,960.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 327,479 shares in the company, valued at approximately $152,579,015.68. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Scott A. Crum sold 9,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $471.69, for a total transaction of $4,245,210.00. Following the sale, the insider now 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. 3.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on MSCI. StockNews.com lowered shares of MSCI from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Barclays decreased their target price on MSCI from $700.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on MSCI from $671.00 to $615.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of MSCI from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $425.00 to $525.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, MSCI has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $569.53.

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MSCI opened at $471.40 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $528.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $536.16. 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. MSCI Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $439.95 and a fifty-two week high of $617.39.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its earnings results 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. The company 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%. MSCI’s quarterly revenue was up 14.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.14 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that MSCI Inc. will post 14.66 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

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

MSCI Company 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.