Aberdeen Group plc Buys 2,697 Shares of MSCI Inc $MSCI

Key Points

• Aberdeen Group plc increased its stake in MSCI Inc by 4.9% in the second quarter, owning a total of 58,212 shares valued at approximately $33.34 million.
• Several institutional investors, including Blue Trust Inc and Ramirez Asset Management Inc, also raised their holdings in MSCI during the same quarter, further indicating strong institutional interest.
• MSCI reported a quarterly earnings per share of $4.17, surpassing analysts' expectations, alongside a recently announced quarterly dividend of $1.80 per share.

Aberdeen Group plc grew its position in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 58,212 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 2,697 shares during the quarter. Aberdeen Group plc owned 0.08% of MSCI worth $33,341,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of MSCI by 25.4% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 212 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $122,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Katamaran Capital LLP purchased a new position in shares of MSCI in the second quarter worth approximately $1,806,000. Baskin Financial Services Inc. grew its position in MSCI by 0.5% during the second quarter. Baskin Financial Services Inc. now owns 73,600 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $42,448,000 after buying an additional 342 shares during the period. Ramirez Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in MSCI by 34.8% during the second quarter. Ramirez Asset Management Inc. now owns 686 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $396,000 after buying an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc raised its position in MSCI by 26.8% in the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 2,785 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,607,000 after acquiring an additional 588 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James Financial raised shares of MSCI from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $650.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Seaport Res Ptn raised MSCI to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on MSCI from $625.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on MSCI from $655.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of MSCI from $578.00 to $533.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, MSCI has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $649.70.

Insider Transactions at MSCI

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 84 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $548.69 per share, for a total transaction of $46,089.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,279,951 shares of the company's stock, valued at $702,296,314.19. This trade represents a 0.01% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders have acquired a total of 12,400 shares of company stock worth $6,731,599 over the last quarter. 3.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MSCI opened at $546.69 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $42.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 1.33. MSCI Inc has a 52-week low of $486.73 and a 52-week high of $642.45. The firm's fifty day moving average is $564.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $559.18.

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, 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 the consensus estimate of $763.06 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.64 EPS. The business's revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th were given a $1.80 dividend. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. MSCI's payout ratio is currently 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.

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