MSCI Inc $MSCI Position Boosted by Aviva PLC

Aviva PLC lifted its holdings in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 98,874 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,309 shares during the period. Aviva PLC owned about 0.13% of MSCI worth $57,025,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on MSCI. Barclays upped their price objective 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. UBS Group upped their price target 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 lifted their price objective 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on MSCI from $655.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on MSCI from $533.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. One 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $655.90.

MSCI Price Performance

NYSE:MSCI opened at $582.50 on Friday. MSCI Inc has a one year low of $486.73 and a one year high of $642.45. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $562.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $561.69. The stock has a market cap of $43.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.91, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 1.34.

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 the consensus estimate of $4.37 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $793.43 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.86 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

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 issued a $1.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 14th. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is 45.63%.

MSCI announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, October 28th that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows 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 of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.