LRI Investments LLC Grows Position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

LRI Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 125.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 99 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC’s holdings in MSCI were worth $60,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Johnson Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of MSCI by 293.8% during the 4th quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 63 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA purchased a new position in shares of MSCI during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Colonial Trust Co SC lifted its position in shares of MSCI by 122.6% during the 4th quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 69 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd lifted its position in shares of MSCI by 122.7% during the 4th quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 98 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Picton Mahoney Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of MSCI during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $60,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MSCI. Bank of America began coverage on MSCI in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $585.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on MSCI from $532.00 to $530.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Barclays decreased their price objective on MSCI from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 4th. Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $675.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $645.36.

MSCI Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of MSCI opened at $564.15 on Wednesday. MSCI Inc. has a 52-week low of $475.32 and a 52-week high of $642.45. The company has a market capitalization of $43.65 billion, a PE ratio of 40.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.33. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $548.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $579.41.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The technology company reported $4.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.88 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $745.83 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $746.45 million. MSCI had a net margin of 38.83% and a negative return on equity of 156.08%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a $1.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.28%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.48%.

Insider Activity at MSCI

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 5,300 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $574.51 per share, for a total transaction of $3,044,903.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 1,269,951 shares in the company, valued at approximately $729,599,549.01. This represents a 0.42% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $524.25, for a total value of $2,621,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 294,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $154,542,084.75. This represents a 1.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.