MUFG Securities EMEA plc Acquires New Position in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI)

Key Points

• MUFG Securities EMEA plc acquired 8,999 shares of MSCI Inc, valued at approximately $5,090,000, as part of its investment strategy revealed in a recent SEC filing.
• MSCI's CEO, Henry A. Fernandez, purchased 84 shares, increasing his ownership to 1,279,951 shares valued at over $702 million.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $1.80 per share, set to be paid on August 29th, representing a yield of 1.3% with a payout ratio of 47.68%.

MUFG Securities EMEA plc acquired a new stake in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 8,999 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $5,090,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in MSCI by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,376,852 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $5,302,610,000 after buying an additional 518,833 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in MSCI by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,626,923 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $920,026,000 after buying an additional 13,918 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in MSCI by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 784,490 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $470,702,000 after buying an additional 48,524 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its stake in MSCI by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 590,892 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $334,149,000 after buying an additional 3,335 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in MSCI by 4.7% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 521,378 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $294,839,000 after buying an additional 23,452 shares during the period. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 9,916 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 24th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $544.70 per share, with a total value of $5,401,245.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,279,867 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $697,143,554.90. This trade represents a 0.78% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders have purchased 12,400 shares of company stock worth $6,731,599 over the last quarter. Insiders own 3.31% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on MSCI shares. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of MSCI from $673.00 to $631.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of MSCI from $578.00 to $533.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of MSCI from $650.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of MSCI from $655.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $654.73.

MSCI Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of MSCI traded up $1.41 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $550.80. The stock had a trading volume of 589,444 shares, compared to its average volume of 608,823. MSCI Inc has a fifty-two week low of $486.73 and a fifty-two week high of $642.45. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $562.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $562.14. The firm has a market cap of $42.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.29.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $772.68 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $763.06 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.64 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

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

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.