Amundi Buys 114,913 Shares of MSCI Inc $MSCI

Key Points

• Amundi increased its stake in MSCI Inc by 24.5% in the first quarter, acquiring an additional 114,913 shares to bring its total ownership to 583,155 shares valued at approximately $317 million.
• Recent analyst reports have shown a range of updated price targets for MSCI, with UBS raising their target to $700 and Wells Fargo lowering it to $533, reflecting mixed views on the stock's outlook.
• CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 9,916 shares at an average price of $544.70 per share, increasing his total ownership to over 1.27 million shares, valued at about $697 million.

Amundi lifted its holdings in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 24.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 583,155 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 114,913 shares during the quarter. Amundi owned 0.75% of MSCI worth $317,341,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MSCI. Aprio Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in MSCI by 19.0% during the first quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC now owns 450 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $255,000 after buying an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec boosted its stake in MSCI by 7.0% during the first quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec now owns 7,343 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $4,152,000 after buying an additional 482 shares in the last quarter. Perbak Capital Partners LLP bought a new position in MSCI during the first quarter valued at about $502,000. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC bought a new position in MSCI during the first quarter valued at about $1,215,000. Finally, FJ Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in MSCI by 50.5% during the first quarter. FJ Capital Management LLC now owns 1,573 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $890,000 after buying an additional 528 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at MSCI

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 84 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $548.69 per share, with a total value of $46,089.96. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,279,951 shares of the company's stock, valued at $702,296,314.19. This represents a 0.01% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Over the last quarter, 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

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on MSCI from $650.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. UBS Group increased their price objective on MSCI from $655.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised MSCI from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $650.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $654.73.

MSCI Stock Up 3.4%

MSCI stock traded up $18.97 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $574.12. 919,330 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 605,592. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $564.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $559.31. MSCI Inc has a twelve month low of $486.73 and a twelve month high of $642.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.34.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The technology company reported $4.17 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $772.68 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $763.06 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.64 earnings per share. MSCI's revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th were issued a $1.80 dividend. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.68%.

About MSCI

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.