Diversified Trust Co Buys 220 Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Diversified Trust Co increased its position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 7.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,109 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 220 shares during the quarter. Diversified Trust Co’s holdings in MSCI were worth $1,865,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSCI. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of MSCI by 0.9% in the third quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 1,968 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,147,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC grew its stake in shares of MSCI by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 418 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $251,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp increased its holdings in MSCI by 35.1% during the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 77 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA raised its position in MSCI by 35.1% during the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 77 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in MSCI by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 732 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $427,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the period. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 2,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $612.80 per share, for a total transaction of $1,777,120.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 330,379 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $202,456,251.20. This trade represents a 0.89 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on MSCI shares. UBS Group decreased their target price on MSCI from $695.00 to $680.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of MSCI from $570.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of MSCI from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $617.00 to $723.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $638.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $645.67.

MSCI Stock Down 0.9 %

MSCI stock opened at $591.13 on Wednesday. MSCI Inc. has a twelve month low of $439.95 and a twelve month high of $642.45. The company has a market capitalization of $46.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.81, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.11. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $601.32 and its 200 day moving average is $569.07.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The technology company reported $3.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.77 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $724.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $716.15 million. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 162.06% and a net margin of 43.06%. The company’s revenue was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.45 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that MSCI Inc. will post 14.98 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were issued a $1.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.08%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.02%.

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.