Creekmur Asset Management LLC Increases Stock Position in MSCI Inc $MSCI

Creekmur Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) by 40.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,047 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 587 shares during the quarter. Creekmur Asset Management LLC’s holdings in MSCI were worth $1,180,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MSCI. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of MSCI by 5.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,376,852 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $5,302,610,000 after purchasing an additional 518,833 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of MSCI by 355.7% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 660,690 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $365,976,000 after purchasing an additional 515,713 shares during the period. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich boosted its stake in shares of MSCI by 605,802.9% in the first quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 212,066 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $129,903,000 after purchasing an additional 212,031 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. purchased a new position in MSCI in the first quarter valued at $119,408,000. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in MSCI in the first quarter valued at $117,879,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Stock Up 2.6%

Shares of MSCI stock opened at $582.54 on Friday. MSCI Inc has a 52-week low of $486.73 and a 52-week high of $642.45. The company has a 50 day moving average of $561.55 and a 200 day moving average of $560.15. The company has a market capitalization of $45.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 1.33.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The technology company reported $4.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.37 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $793.43 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $794.87 million. MSCI had a net margin of 40.03% and a negative return on equity of 110.94%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.86 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI announced that its board has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, October 28th that permits the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the technology company to reacquire up to 7.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 14th will be given a dividend of $1.80 per share. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 14th. MSCI’s payout ratio is currently 47.68%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays lifted their target price on MSCI from $650.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings lowered MSCI from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Saturday, October 25th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of MSCI from $588.00 to $611.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of MSCI from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $650.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of MSCI from $655.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, MSCI currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $655.90.

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.