AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs Invests $1.70 Million in MSCI Inc $MSCI

Key Points

• AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs acquired 3,018 shares of MSCI Inc, valued at approximately $1.7 million, marking a new investment position in the company.
• MSCI received multiple analyst upgrades, with target prices being raised by firms such as JPMorgan Chase and UBS, reflecting a general consensus rating of "Moderate Buy."
• CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased nearly 10,000 shares of MSCI stock, increasing his ownership and indicating corporate confidence in the company's future performance.

AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs bought a new position in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 3,018 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $1,702,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ritholtz Wealth Management raised its holdings in MSCI by 23.2% during the first quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 812 shares of the technology company's stock worth $459,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in MSCI by 336.4% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 96 shares of the technology company's stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC raised its holdings in MSCI by 6.5% during the first quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 524 shares of the technology company's stock worth $296,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC acquired a new position in MSCI in the first quarter worth approximately $288,000. Finally, NorthRock Partners LLC acquired a new position in MSCI in the fourth quarter worth approximately $556,000. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on MSCI shares. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of MSCI from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $650.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 25th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of MSCI from $655.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of MSCI from $625.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of MSCI from $578.00 to $533.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MSCI currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $652.45.

MSCI Price Performance

Shares of MSCI stock traded down $27.35 on Thursday, hitting $551.30. The company's stock had a trading volume of 679,472 shares, compared to its average volume of 610,808. MSCI Inc has a fifty-two week low of $486.73 and a fifty-two week high of $642.45. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $563.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $559.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.34.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The technology company reported $4.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.12 by $0.05. MSCI had a net margin of 39.46% and a negative return on equity of 143.13%. The business had revenue of $772.68 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $763.06 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.64 EPS. MSCI's quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th were given a dividend of $1.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. MSCI's payout ratio is currently 47.68%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 9,916 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 24th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $544.70 per share, with a total value of $5,401,245.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,279,867 shares in the company, valued at approximately $697,143,554.90. The trade was a 0.78% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders have acquired 12,400 shares of company stock worth $6,731,599. 3.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.