Park Avenue Securities LLC Has $1.87 Million Stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 9.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,121 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 263 shares during the quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in MSCI were worth $1,873,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MSCI. Edgewood Management LLC increased its holdings in MSCI by 16.9% in the 3rd quarter. Edgewood Management LLC now owns 2,195,639 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,279,904,000 after buying an additional 318,214 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in MSCI by 14.3% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,587,723 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $925,531,000 after buying an additional 198,666 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in MSCI by 358.3% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 133,636 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $77,900,000 after buying an additional 104,474 shares during the period. Champlain Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in MSCI in the 3rd quarter valued at about $56,101,000. Finally, APG Asset Management N.V. increased its holdings in MSCI by 38.8% in the 2nd quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 315,887 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $141,991,000 after buying an additional 88,239 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MSCI. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $680.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of MSCI from $570.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $690.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $638.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $645.67.

Insider Transactions at MSCI

In other news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 2,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $612.80 per share, for a total transaction of $1,777,120.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Price Performance

NYSE:MSCI opened at $612.25 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $603.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $574.07. MSCI Inc. has a one year low of $439.95 and a one year high of $642.45. The company has a market cap of $47.98 billion, a PE ratio of 40.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.11.

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

MSCI Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were given a $1.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.05%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.02%.

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.