MSCI Inc $MSCI Shares Bought by Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 145,982 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,064 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned 0.19% of MSCI worth $84,194,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in MSCI by 136.4% in the 1st quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 52 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Steph & Co. acquired a new position in shares of MSCI in the second quarter worth $35,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of MSCI by 50.0% in the first quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 66 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Banque Transatlantique SA lifted its position in shares of MSCI by 355.6% in the first quarter. Banque Transatlantique SA now owns 82 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its stake in shares of MSCI by 2,666.7% during the first quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 83 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of MSCI from $650.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. 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 report on Wednesday, October 29th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $710.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of MSCI from $588.00 to $611.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of MSCI to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $655.90.

MSCI Stock Performance

MSCI stock opened at $582.50 on Monday. MSCI Inc has a 1 year low of $486.73 and a 1 year high of $642.45. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $562.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $561.89. The company has a market cap of $43.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.91, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 1.34.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The technology company reported $4.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.37 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $793.43 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $794.87 million. MSCI had a net margin of 40.03% and a negative return on equity of 110.94%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.86 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 14th will be paid a dividend of $1.80 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 14th. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.63%.

MSCI declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, October 28th that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the technology company to repurchase up to 7.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.