MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Stake Boosted by EULAV Asset Management

EULAV Asset Management increased its stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 8.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 188,457 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 14,754 shares during the quarter. MSCI accounts for approximately 2.7% of EULAV Asset Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. EULAV Asset Management owned 0.24% of MSCI worth $109,857,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Covestor Ltd grew its stake in MSCI by 388.9% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 176 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $99,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP boosted its stake in MSCI by 52.9% during the first quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP now owns 1,159 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $650,000 after buying an additional 401 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its stake in MSCI by 0.5% during the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 7,086 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,971,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the period. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd boosted its stake in MSCI by 269.1% during the first quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 2,698 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,512,000 after buying an additional 1,967 shares during the period. Finally, Lake Street Advisors Group LLC bought a new stake in MSCI during the first quarter valued at $245,000. 89.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MSCI Price Performance

NYSE:MSCI opened at $596.93 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.11. MSCI Inc. has a one year low of $439.95 and a one year high of $631.70. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $585.01 and a 200-day moving average price of $540.12.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $716.15 million. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 162.06% and a net margin of 43.06%. MSCI’s revenue was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.45 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that MSCI Inc. will post 14.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSCI has been the topic of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on MSCI from $640.00 to $662.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Argus boosted their price target on MSCI from $520.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Barclays lifted their price objective on MSCI from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on MSCI from $526.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, 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 report on Wednesday, October 9th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, MSCI currently 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.