Toronto Dominion Bank Acquires 2,955 Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Toronto Dominion Bank increased its holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 7.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 42,188 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,955 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank owned about 0.05% of MSCI worth $25,313,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MSCI. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of MSCI by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,897,456 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,136,563,000 after purchasing an additional 35,094 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in MSCI by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,613,005 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $967,820,000 after buying an additional 119,471 shares during the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp increased its stake in MSCI by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 1,148,615 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $689,180,000 after buying an additional 49,679 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of MSCI during the 4th quarter worth approximately $609,937,000. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of MSCI by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 853,452 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $512,079,000 after buying an additional 25,325 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Stock Down 0.7%

MSCI opened at $571.26 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $550.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $579.26. MSCI Inc. has a twelve month low of $475.32 and a twelve month high of $642.45. The company has a market capitalization of $44.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.63, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.33.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The technology company reported $4.00 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.88 by $0.12. MSCI had a net margin of 38.83% and a negative return on equity of 156.08%. The company had revenue of $745.83 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $746.45 million. On average, sell-side analysts expect that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a $1.80 dividend. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.48%.

Insider Activity

In other MSCI news, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $552.59, for a total value of $2,762,950.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 289,787 shares in the company, valued at $160,133,398.33. This represents a 1.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 5,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $574.51 per share, with a total value of $3,044,903.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 1,269,951 shares in the company, valued at approximately $729,599,549.01. This trade represents a 0.42% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 3.31% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on MSCI shares. Bank of America started coverage on MSCI in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $585.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $675.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of MSCI from $532.00 to $530.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of MSCI from $680.00 to $650.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $645.36.

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.