Asset Management One Co. Ltd. Increases Position in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI)

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) by 8.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 33,010 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 2,522 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd.’s holdings in MSCI were worth $18,667,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Figure 8 Investment Strategies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 5.6% in the first quarter. Figure 8 Investment Strategies LLC now owns 2,076 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,174,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the period. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI in the first quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 23.1% in the first quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,261 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,410,000 after purchasing an additional 799 shares during the period. M3 Advisory Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 5.8% in the first quarter. M3 Advisory Group LLC now owns 401 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $227,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. Finally, Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,250,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of MSCI opened at $569.60 on Thursday. MSCI Inc has a 12 month low of $478.33 and a 12 month high of $642.45. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $555.31 and a 200-day moving average price of $572.24. The firm has a market cap of $44.07 billion, a PE ratio of 39.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.33.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The technology company reported $4.00 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.88 by $0.12. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 145.52% and a net margin of 39.08%. The firm had revenue of $745.83 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $746.45 million. As a group, research analysts forecast that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th were issued a dividend of $1.80 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.26%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.48%.

Insider Activity at MSCI

In related news, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $552.59, for a total value of $2,762,950.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 289,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $160,133,398.33. This represents a 1.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 3.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on MSCI from $680.00 to $650.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of MSCI from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of MSCI in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $585.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $675.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of MSCI from $532.00 to $530.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $645.36.

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.