Bank of America Corp DE Purchases Shares of 393,492 MSCI Inc $MSCI

Key Points

• Bank of America acquired 393,492 MSCI shares worth approximately $220.4 million, giving it a 0.54% stake. Institutional investors collectively own 89.97% of MSCI.
• MSCI’s latest quarterly results fell slightly short of expectations, with EPS of $4.94 versus $4.99 expected and revenue of $867 million versus $870.71 million expected; revenue still increased 12.2% year over year.
• The company pays a quarterly dividend of $2.05 per share, equivalent to an annualized $8.20 dividend and a 1.5% yield. Analysts maintain a consensus “Buy” rating with a $709.50 price target, above the reported share price of $540.39.

Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 393,492 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $220,371,000. Bank of America Corp DE owned about 0.54% of MSCI at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in MSCI during the second quarter valued at $3,062,626,000. Bamco Inc. NY lifted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 15.1% in the 4th quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 2,755,747 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,581,055,000 after acquiring an additional 361,630 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its position in MSCI by 13.2% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,446,291 shares of the technology company's stock worth $829,781,000 after acquiring an additional 168,405 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in MSCI in the fourth quarter worth about $528,560,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in MSCI during the second quarter worth approximately $480,613,000. 89.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MSCI opened at $540.39 on Thursday. MSCI Inc has a 52-week low of $501.08 and a 52-week high of $644.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.56, a PEG ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.22. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $573.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $575.26.

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

MSCI Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MSCI. Bank of America raised their price objective on MSCI from $715.00 to $730.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and set a $700.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Evercore set a $722.00 price target on MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of MSCI in a research note on Friday, July 17th. They set a "buy" rating and a $760.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of MSCI from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and eleven have given a Buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, MSCI currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $709.50.

MSCI Company 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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