Ceredex Value Advisors LLC Acquires Shares of 38,750 MSCI Inc $MSCI

Key Points

• Ceredex Value Advisors LLC has made a new investment of approximately $21.91 million in MSCI Inc, acquiring 38,750 shares during the first quarter.
• Institutional investors and hedge funds now own 89.97% of MSCI's stock, highlighting significant institutional interest in the company.
• MSCI recently declared a quarterly dividend of $1.80 per share, with a scheduled payment date of August 29th, representing an annualized yield of 1.3%.

Ceredex Value Advisors LLC bought a new stake in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 38,750 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $21,913,000. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.05% of MSCI as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Ritholtz Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of MSCI by 23.2% during the 1st quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 812 shares of the technology company's stock worth $459,000 after buying an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in MSCI by 336.4% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 96 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the period. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC grew its holdings in MSCI by 6.5% in the 1st quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 524 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $296,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the period. NorthRock Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI during the 4th quarter worth about $556,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of MSCI by 8.4% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 894 shares of the technology company's stock worth $506,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSCI has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced 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. raised their target price on MSCI from $650.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. UBS Group raised their price target on MSCI from $655.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised MSCI from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $650.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, July 25th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $654.73.

MSCI Price Performance

Shares of MSCI traded down $0.98 on Friday, reaching $567.57. 498,985 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 600,425. The firm has a market cap of $43.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 1.29. MSCI Inc has a 12 month low of $486.73 and a 12 month high of $642.45. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $565.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $560.14.

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

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.80 per share. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. MSCI's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.68%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 84 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The stock was purchased at an average cost 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 approximately $702,296,314.19. The trade was a 0.01% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Over the last ninety days, insiders purchased 12,400 shares of company stock worth $6,731,599. Company insiders own 3.31% of the company's stock.

MSCI 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.