Korea Investment CORP Purchases 8,700 Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Korea Investment CORP raised its position in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 24.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 44,070 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 8,700 shares during the period. Korea Investment CORP owned about 0.06% of MSCI worth $26,442,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of MSCI by 2.6% in the third 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 during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in MSCI by 32.1% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 107 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $62,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA increased its stake in shares of MSCI by 35.1% during the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 77 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Qsemble Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of MSCI during the third quarter valued at approximately $210,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in MSCI by 0.4% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 51,116 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,797,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at MSCI

In other news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 5,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $574.51 per share, for a total transaction of $3,044,903.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Stock Down 1.4 %

NYSE:MSCI opened at $558.03 on Friday. MSCI Inc. has a 52 week low of $439.95 and a 52 week high of $642.45. The stock has a market cap of $43.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.69, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.19. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $578.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $588.55.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued 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 business posted $3.68 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $1.80 per share. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.29%. 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 presently 51.21%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on MSCI. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $675.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Wolfe Research upgraded MSCI from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.