MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Shares Acquired by Baskin Financial Services Inc.

Baskin Financial Services Inc. raised its stake in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 0.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 72,632 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 139 shares during the period. MSCI comprises approximately 3.5% of Baskin Financial Services Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 15th largest position. Baskin Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in MSCI were worth $43,580,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in MSCI by 30.0% during the third quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 564 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $329,000 after buying an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust boosted its position in shares of MSCI by 52.4% during the 3rd quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 3,779 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,203,000 after purchasing an additional 1,299 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of MSCI by 30.9% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 174,982 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $104,991,000 after purchasing an additional 41,346 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of MSCI by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 536,211 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $312,574,000 after purchasing an additional 23,050 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its stake in MSCI by 339.6% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 26,834 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $15,642,000 after purchasing an additional 20,730 shares during the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on MSCI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Redburn Atlantic upgraded MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $680.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. UBS Group reduced 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 lifted their price target on MSCI from $570.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $675.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research note on Thursday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $649.23.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 2,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $612.80 per share, with a total value of $1,777,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 330,379 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $202,456,251.20. The trade was a 0.89 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Price Performance

NYSE MSCI opened at $596.83 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $607.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $582.76. MSCI Inc. has a 52-week low of $439.95 and a 52-week high of $642.45.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.96 by $0.22. MSCI had a net margin of 38.83% and a negative return on equity of 156.08%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.68 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that MSCI Inc. will post 16.85 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $1.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.21%. This is an increase from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. MSCI’s payout ratio is 45.52%.

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.