HUB Investment Partners LLC Has $15.72 Million Position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

HUB Investment Partners LLC lowered its position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 0.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 26,204 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 95 shares during the quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in MSCI were worth $15,723,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in MSCI by 2.6% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,493,534 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $870,627,000 after acquiring an additional 37,340 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. bought a new stake in MSCI in the third quarter valued at approximately $207,000. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in MSCI by 3.5% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 1,471 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $857,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 732 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $427,000 after buying an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 17,534 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $10,221,000 after buying an additional 1,046 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on MSCI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays cut their price target on MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Wolfe Research raised MSCI from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $617.00 to $723.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. 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.com, MSCI has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $649.23.

MSCI Stock Performance

MSCI stock opened at $571.25 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $44.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.63, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.19. MSCI Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $439.95 and a fifty-two week high of $642.45. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $582.92 and a 200-day moving average of $588.83.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 period in the prior year, the company posted $3.68 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $1.80 per share. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.21%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 5,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $574.51 per share, with a total value 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 position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

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.