Algert Global LLC Grows Stock Holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Algert Global LLC grew its stake in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 1,127.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,759 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,290 shares during the period. Algert Global LLC’s holdings in MSCI were worth $3,357,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MSCI. Edgewood Management LLC boosted its position in shares of MSCI by 16.9% in the third quarter. Edgewood Management LLC now owns 2,195,639 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,279,904,000 after acquiring an additional 318,214 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in MSCI by 14.3% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,587,723 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $925,531,000 after purchasing an additional 198,666 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in MSCI by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,493,534 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $870,627,000 after purchasing an additional 37,340 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in shares of MSCI by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,047,960 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $504,855,000 after purchasing an additional 13,620 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PineStone Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of MSCI by 129.4% in the second quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 730,986 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $352,153,000 after purchasing an additional 412,389 shares during the period. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on MSCI shares. Barclays lifted their price objective on MSCI from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Redburn Atlantic raised MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $680.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of MSCI from $570.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of MSCI from $695.00 to $680.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $638.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $631.83.

MSCI Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:MSCI opened at $592.70 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 1.11. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $586.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $543.26. MSCI Inc. has a 12-month low of $439.95 and a 12-month high of $631.70.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The technology company reported $3.86 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.77 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $724.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $716.15 million. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 162.06% and a net margin of 43.06%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.45 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that MSCI Inc. will post 14.98 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a $1.60 dividend. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.08%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.02%.

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.