Thematics Asset Management Decreases Stock Holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Thematics Asset Management lowered its stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 8.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,201 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 1,322 shares during the quarter. Thematics Asset Management’s holdings in MSCI were worth $8,861,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new position in shares of MSCI in the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. HWG Holdings LP bought a new position in MSCI in the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new position in MSCI in the second quarter valued at about $40,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in MSCI in the third quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp grew its stake in shares of MSCI by 35.1% during the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 77 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Stock Performance

MSCI traded up $4.74 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $597.47. 30,143 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 542,102. MSCI Inc. has a 12-month low of $439.95 and a 12-month high of $631.70. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $586.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $543.26. The company has a market cap of $46.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.92, a PEG ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 1.11.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The technology company reported $3.86 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.77 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $724.70 million during 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 revenue was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.45 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that MSCI Inc. will post 14.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.07%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.02%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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