Comerica Bank Purchases 1,875 Shares of MSCI Inc $MSCI

Key Points

• Comerica Bank increased its stake in MSCI Inc by 7.4%, now owning 27,368 shares valued at approximately $15.5 million.
• MSCI announced a quarterly dividend of $1.80 per share, resulting in a 1.3% dividend yield, with the ex-dividend date on August 15th.
• Analysts have positively adjusted their price targets for MSCI, with recommendations for a "buy" rating and an average target price of $654.73.

Comerica Bank lifted its position in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 7.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 27,368 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,875 shares during the period. Comerica Bank's holdings in MSCI were worth $15,476,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in MSCI by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,376,852 shares of the technology company's stock worth $5,302,610,000 after acquiring an additional 518,833 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in MSCI by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,626,923 shares of the technology company's stock worth $920,026,000 after acquiring an additional 13,918 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in MSCI by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,008,778 shares of the technology company's stock worth $570,464,000 after acquiring an additional 19,846 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in MSCI by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 804,640 shares of the technology company's stock worth $455,024,000 after acquiring an additional 20,150 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in MSCI by 8.4% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 615,770 shares of the technology company's stock worth $348,218,000 after acquiring an additional 47,936 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company's stock.

MSCI Stock Down 0.0%

NYSE MSCI opened at $574.5680 on Tuesday. MSCI Inc has a twelve month low of $486.73 and a twelve month high of $642.45. The company has a market cap of $44.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 1.29. The business's fifty day moving average is $563.91 and its 200 day moving average is $560.08.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. 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 the consensus estimate of $763.06 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.64 EPS. MSCI's revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. MSCI's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling at MSCI

In other news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 84 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The shares were 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 directly owned 1,279,951 shares in the company, valued at $702,296,314.19. The trade was a 0.01% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Over the last 90 days, insiders acquired 12,400 shares of company stock worth $6,731,599. Company insiders own 3.31% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on MSCI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on MSCI from $650.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. UBS Group raised 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. Raymond James Financial upgraded MSCI from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $650.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on MSCI from $578.00 to $533.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MSCI has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $654.73.

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.

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