Baird Financial Group Inc. Has $61.21 Million Stake in MSCI Inc $MSCI

Key Points

• Baird Financial Group reduced its MSCI stake by 7.1% in the second quarter, selling 8,312 shares and retaining 109,293 shares valued at approximately $61.21 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 89.97% of MSCI.
• MSCI reported quarterly EPS of $4.94, below the $4.99 consensus estimate, while revenue rose 12.2% year over year to $867 million. The company also paid a quarterly dividend of $2.05 per share, representing a 1.5% yield.
• Analysts maintain a broadly positive outlook, with MSCI carrying a consensus “Buy” rating and an average price target of $709.50, compared with a recent share price of $555.30.

Baird Financial Group Inc. trimmed its stake in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 7.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 109,293 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 8,312 shares during the quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. owned 0.15% of MSCI worth $61,208,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in MSCI by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,074 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $616,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the period. AdvisorShares Investments LLC lifted its position in MSCI by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. AdvisorShares Investments LLC now owns 830 shares of the technology company's stock worth $476,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank boosted its stake in shares of MSCI by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,074 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $616,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of MSCI by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 530 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $304,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the period. Finally, Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV grew its holdings in shares of MSCI by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV now owns 3,179 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,714,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MSCI Trading Up 0.7%

MSCI stock opened at $555.30 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $40.37 billion, a PE ratio of 30.38, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.22. MSCI Inc has a 1 year low of $501.08 and a 1 year high of $644.77. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $579.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $575.42.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The technology company reported $4.94 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.99 by ($0.05). MSCI had a negative return on equity of 55.19% and a net margin of 40.74%.The business had revenue of $867.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $870.71 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $4.17 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that MSCI Inc will post 19.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 14th were paid a dividend of $2.05 per share. This represents a $8.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 14th. MSCI's dividend payout ratio is 44.86%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MSCI. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of MSCI from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on MSCI from $700.00 to $690.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Barclays boosted their target price on MSCI from $700.00 to $735.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $700.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, UBS Group set a $615.00 price target on MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and eleven have issued a Buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, MSCI currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $709.50.

MSCI Profile

MSCI Inc is a global provider of investment decision-support tools and services for institutional investors, asset managers, wealth managers, banks and other financial institutions. The company is best known for its indexes, which are used to benchmark portfolios and support the design of investment products such as exchange-traded funds and other index-based strategies.

In addition to indexes covering equities, fixed income and other asset classes, MSCI provides portfolio analytics, risk-management tools, performance measurement and investment data.

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