Cumberland Partners Ltd Takes $1.46 Million Position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Cumberland Partners Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 2,500 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,457,000.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC raised its position in MSCI by 0.9% during the third quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 1,968 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,147,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Conning Inc. increased its holdings in MSCI by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 479 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $231,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its holdings in MSCI by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 542 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $261,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in MSCI by 5.0% during the 2nd quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 423 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $204,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI lifted its holdings in MSCI by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 618 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $298,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSCI has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $638.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $690.00 price target on the stock. Argus increased their price target on shares of MSCI from $520.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of MSCI from $526.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic upgraded MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $680.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $631.83.

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MSCI traded down $1.49 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $595.76. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 45,051 shares, compared to its average volume of 541,524. MSCI Inc. has a 12-month low of $439.95 and a 12-month high of $631.70. The company has a market cap of $46.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.11. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $580.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $534.64.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The technology company reported $3.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.77 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $724.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $716.15 million. MSCI had a net margin of 43.06% and a negative return on equity of 162.06%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.45 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that MSCI Inc. will post 14.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a dividend of $1.60 per share. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.07%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.02%.

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.