Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Raises Stock Position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 8.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 45,136 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 3,531 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC owned 0.06% of MSCI worth $25,531,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in MSCI during the 3rd quarter worth $434,000. Bleakley Financial Group LLC raised its position in MSCI by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 2,340 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,324,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of MSCI by 19.2% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 218,623 shares of the technology company's stock worth $124,786,000 after acquiring an additional 35,277 shares in the last quarter. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd raised its position in shares of MSCI by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd now owns 430,676 shares of the technology company's stock worth $220,971,000 after acquiring an additional 12,495 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of MSCI by 8.9% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 143,742 shares of the technology company's stock worth $81,308,000 after acquiring an additional 11,704 shares in the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

MSCI Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:MSCI traded down $7.87 on Friday, reaching $526.62. 434,820 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 350,133. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $559.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $539.32. MSCI Inc. has a 52 week low of $451.55 and a 52 week high of $617.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.06.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The technology company reported $3.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.29 by $0.39. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 111.17% and a net margin of 45.42%. The firm had revenue of $690.11 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $662.64 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.84 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 19.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that MSCI Inc. will post 14.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 16th were issued a dividend of $1.60 per share. This is a positive change from MSCI's previous quarterly dividend of $1.38. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. MSCI's dividend payout ratio is currently 44.44%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on MSCI from $615.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. StockNews.com cut shares of MSCI from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of MSCI from $544.00 to $617.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of MSCI from $600.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of MSCI in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. They issued a "peer perform" rating on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $581.57.

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.