Middleton & Co. Inc. MA Buys 69 Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Middleton & Co. Inc. MA increased its position in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,703 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the quarter. Middleton & Co. Inc. MA’s holdings in MSCI were worth $7,405,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of MSCI by 74.9% during the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,456,194 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $701,522,000 after buying an additional 623,712 shares during the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. lifted 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 acquiring an additional 412,389 shares during the last quarter. Findlay Park Partners LLP acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $114,836,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of MSCI during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $91,748,000. Finally, Swedbank AB acquired a new position in MSCI during the 1st quarter worth approximately $75,957,000. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Trading Down 0.3 %

MSCI stock opened at $588.72 on Friday. MSCI Inc. has a 1-year low of $439.95 and a 1-year high of $617.39. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $578.25 and a 200-day moving average price of $528.21. The firm has a market cap of $46.64 billion, a PE ratio of 40.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 1.11.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The technology company reported $3.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.55 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $707.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $696.41 million. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 143.09% and a net margin of 43.86%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.26 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that MSCI Inc. will post 14.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on MSCI shares. Argus raised their target price on shares of MSCI from $520.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on MSCI from $570.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Evercore ISI began coverage on MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $690.00 target price for the company. Redburn Atlantic raised MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $680.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $638.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Seven investment 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 company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $615.23.

MSCI Company 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.