Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Raises Stock Position in MSCI Inc $MSCI

Key Points

• The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its holdings in MSCI Inc by 18.9% during the first quarter, acquiring an additional 16,314 shares and bringing its total ownership to 102,602 shares valued at approximately $58 million.
• MSCI's share price opened at $567.57, with a market cap of $43.91 billion and a PE ratio of 37.59; the company's quarterly revenue increased by 9.1% year-over-year, reaching $772.68 million.
• The firm declared a quarterly dividend of $1.80 per share, which represents an annualized dividend of $7.20 and a dividend yield of 1.3%, with a payout ratio of 47.68%.

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its stake in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 18.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 102,602 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 16,314 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned 0.13% of MSCI worth $58,021,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Menard Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in MSCI in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Olde Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in MSCI in the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in MSCI by 136.4% in the 1st quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 52 shares of the technology company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. boosted its stake in MSCI by 50.0% in the 1st quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 66 shares of the technology company's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Colonial Trust Co SC lifted its stake in MSCI by 122.6% during the 4th quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 69 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of MSCI from $655.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Raymond James Financial upgraded 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 note on Friday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of MSCI from $650.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of MSCI from $578.00 to $533.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $654.73.

MSCI Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:MSCI traded down $3.26 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $550.65. 898,650 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 603,678. The company has a market cap of $42.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $565.70 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $559.82. MSCI Inc has a 52-week low of $486.73 and a 52-week high of $642.45.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The technology company reported $4.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.12 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $772.68 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $763.06 million. MSCI had a net margin of 39.46% and a negative return on equity of 143.13%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.64 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th were issued a $1.80 dividend. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. MSCI's payout ratio is presently 47.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 84 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The stock was bought at an average price of $548.69 per share, with a total value of $46,089.96. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 1,279,951 shares in the company, valued at $702,296,314.19. The trade was 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders have acquired 12,400 shares of company stock valued at $6,731,599. 3.31% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.