Polen Capital Management LLC Has $1.22 Billion Position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Polen Capital Management LLC lessened its position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 8.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,032,238 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 196,055 shares during the period. MSCI accounts for about 3.3% of Polen Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Polen Capital Management LLC owned about 2.59% of MSCI worth $1,219,363,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MSCI. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in MSCI by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,493,534 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $870,627,000 after purchasing an additional 37,340 shares in the last quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of MSCI by 30.0% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. bought a new stake in shares of MSCI in the 3rd quarter valued at about $207,000. KBC Group NV grew its position in shares of MSCI by 11.8% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 12,208 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $7,116,000 after buying an additional 1,291 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Huntington National Bank grew its position in shares of MSCI by 12.7% in the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 382 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $223,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSCI has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $617.00 to $723.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays reduced their price target on MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded MSCI from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MSCI currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $649.23.

Insider Transactions at MSCI

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 5,300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,269,951 shares in the company, valued at $729,599,549.01. This trade represents a 0.42 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Stock Performance

MSCI stock opened at $554.92 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $584.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $589.15. MSCI Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $439.95 and a fifty-two week high of $642.45. The company has a market cap of $43.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.19.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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. Equities analysts predict that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were paid 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is 51.21%.

MSCI Company 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.