MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Shares Purchased by Daiwa Securities Group Inc.

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 35.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 13,130 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,409 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in MSCI were worth $7,653,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSCI. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in MSCI by 74.9% in the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,456,194 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $701,522,000 after purchasing an additional 623,712 shares during the period. PineStone Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of MSCI by 129.4% during the 2nd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 730,986 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $352,153,000 after acquiring an additional 412,389 shares during the last quarter. Edgewood Management LLC lifted its position in shares of MSCI by 16.9% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of MSCI by 14.3% during 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 acquiring an additional 198,666 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI during the 2nd quarter valued at $91,748,000. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MSCI Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE MSCI opened at $592.70 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $46.45 billion, a PE ratio of 38.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 1.11. MSCI Inc. has a 1-year low of $439.95 and a 1-year high of $631.70. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $586.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $543.26.

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

MSCI Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a dividend of $1.60 per share. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. MSCI’s payout ratio is 42.02%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on MSCI from $570.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $638.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Evercore ISI began coverage on MSCI in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $690.00 target price for the company. Redburn Atlantic upgraded MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $680.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on MSCI from $640.00 to $662.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $631.83.

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.