MV Capital Management Inc. Decreases Position in MSCI Inc $MSCI

MV Capital Management Inc. cut its stake in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,265 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 101 shares during the period. MV Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in MSCI were worth $2,460,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of MSCI by 136.4% during the first quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 52 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Steph & Co. purchased a new position in MSCI in the 2nd quarter valued at about $35,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. boosted its position in MSCI by 50.0% in the 1st quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 66 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Banque Transatlantique SA grew its stake in shares of MSCI by 355.6% during 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 increased its position 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 worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on MSCI shares. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded MSCI to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on MSCI from $533.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $710.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of MSCI from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $650.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of MSCI from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MSCI currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $655.90.

MSCI Price Performance

MSCI stock opened at $580.36 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $43.61 billion, a PE ratio of 36.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 1.34. MSCI Inc has a 12 month low of $486.73 and a 12 month high of $642.45. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $563.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $562.69.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last posted 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. MSCI had a net margin of 40.03% and a negative return on equity of 110.94%. The company had revenue of $793.43 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $794.87 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.86 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 28th. Investors of record on Friday, November 14th will be given a $1.80 dividend. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 14th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.63%.

MSCI declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, October 28th that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the technology company to purchase up to 7.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are 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.