Ascent Group LLC Buys Shares of 509 MSCI Inc $MSCI

Key Points

• Ascent Group LLC has acquired 509 shares of MSCI Inc, valued at approximately $288,000, during the first quarter, amid other hedge fund activity around the stock.
• MSCI's CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 84 shares at about $548.69 each, increasing his ownership stake to roughly $702 million, while insiders have acquired 12,400 shares worth around $6.7 million recently.
• Analysts have a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" for MSCI, with a price target averaging $652.45, reflecting some optimistic projections despite varying ratings from different investment firms.

Ascent Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 509 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $288,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vancity Investment Management Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI during the 1st quarter worth $15,915,000. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. raised its stake in MSCI by 3.7% in the first quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 1,281 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $724,000 after buying an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Caxton Associates LLP purchased a new stake in MSCI during the 1st quarter worth about $1,911,000. Voleon Capital Management LP boosted its position in shares of MSCI by 378.2% during the 1st quarter. Voleon Capital Management LP now owns 3,376 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,909,000 after acquiring an additional 2,670 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Everstar Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of MSCI in the 1st quarter valued at about $6,373,000. 89.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 9,916 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 24th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $544.70 per share, with a total value of $5,401,245.20. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 1,279,867 shares in the company, valued at $697,143,554.90. This trade represents a 0.78% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last ninety days, insiders purchased 12,400 shares of company stock valued at $6,731,599. Company insiders own 3.31% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSCI has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on MSCI from $578.00 to $533.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. UBS Group boosted their price objective 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. upped their target price on shares of MSCI from $625.00 to $655.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 10th. Finally, 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 note 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 MarketBeat.com, MSCI presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $652.45.

MSCI Trading Up 2.2%

Shares of NYSE:MSCI traded up $12.46 on Wednesday, reaching $579.48. 183,748 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 607,058. MSCI Inc has a 1-year low of $486.73 and a 1-year high of $642.45. The company has a 50-day moving average of $563.33 and a 200-day moving average of $559.11. The firm has a market cap of $44.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 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 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $763.06 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.64 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th were issued a $1.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. MSCI's dividend payout ratio is currently 47.68%.

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.