Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. Invests $272,000 in MSCI Inc $MSCI

Key Points

• Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. has acquired 481 shares of MSCI Inc, valued at approximately $272,000, signaling institutional interest in the company.
• Analysts are projecting a consensus price target of $654.73 on MSCI shares, with varying ratings from firms like JPMorgan and UBS.
• MSCI recently announced a quarterly dividend of $1.80 per share, representing an annualized yield of 1.3%, highlighting the company’s commitment to returning value to shareholders.

Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 481 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $272,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Menard Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of MSCI in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Olde Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of MSCI in the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in MSCI by 136.4% in the 1st quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 52 shares of the technology company's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. lifted its position in MSCI by 50.0% during the 1st quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 66 shares of the technology company's stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the period. Finally, Colonial Trust Co SC increased its holdings in shares of MSCI by 122.6% in the fourth quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 69 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company's stock.

MSCI Stock Performance

MSCI stock traded down $0.98 during trading on Friday, reaching $567.57. The company had a trading volume of 498,985 shares, compared to its average volume of 589,100. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $565.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $559.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.91 billion, a PE ratio of 37.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.34. MSCI Inc has a 1-year low of $486.73 and a 1-year high of $642.45.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The technology company reported $4.17 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $772.68 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $763.06 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.64 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on MSCI from $578.00 to $533.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of MSCI from $655.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on MSCI from $650.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised MSCI from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $650.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, July 25th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MSCI currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $654.73.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 9,916 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 24th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $544.70 per share, for a total transaction of $5,401,245.20. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,279,867 shares in the company, valued at approximately $697,143,554.90. This represents a 0.78% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders acquired a total of 12,400 shares of company stock valued at $6,731,599 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 3.31% of the company's stock.

MSCI 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.