Mutual of America Capital Management LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Mutual of America Capital Management LLC lowered its position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 3.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 9,388 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 298 shares during the period. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC’s holdings in MSCI were worth $5,633,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Dynasty Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of MSCI by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Dynasty Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,778 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,267,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its stake in shares of MSCI by 46.8% during the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 113 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $68,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Fielder Capital Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI during the fourth quarter valued at $456,000. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of MSCI by 25.9% during the fourth quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,069 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,842,000 after acquiring an additional 632 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versor Investments LP acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI during the fourth quarter valued at $1,547,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Price Performance

NYSE MSCI opened at $587.87 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.11. MSCI Inc. has a 1-year low of $439.95 and a 1-year high of $642.45. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $593.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $590.05.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.96 by $0.22. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 156.08% and a net margin of 38.83%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.68 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $1.80 per share. This is an increase from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.21%.

Insider Activity at MSCI

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 2,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $612.80 per share, for a total transaction of $1,777,120.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 330,379 shares in the company, valued at $202,456,251.20. This represents a 0.89 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $617.00 to $723.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $675.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised MSCI from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $649.23.

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.