MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Shares Acquired by Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc.

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 1.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 23,366 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 375 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc.’s holdings in MSCI were worth $13,095,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its position in shares of MSCI by 12.2% in the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 165 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $93,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the period. Legacy Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of MSCI by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Legacy Advisors LLC now owns 664 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $376,000 after buying an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of MSCI by 23.5% during the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 100 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 19 shares during the period. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in MSCI by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,080 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,177,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC increased its holdings in MSCI by 11.1% in the 1st quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 221 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $124,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MSCI Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MSCI traded down $2.57 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $543.69. 90,298 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 584,163. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $497.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $524.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.29, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 1.10. MSCI Inc. has a 12-month low of $439.95 and a 12-month high of $617.39.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The technology company reported $3.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.55 by $0.09. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 143.09% and a net margin of 43.86%. The business had revenue of $707.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $696.41 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.26 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc. will post 14.78 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th will be paid a $1.60 dividend. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 16th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.69%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on MSCI shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on MSCI from $615.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of MSCI from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $613.00 to $569.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of MSCI from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of MSCI from $575.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Argus increased their target price on MSCI from $520.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MSCI currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $591.21.

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.