First Foundation Advisors Has $4.50 Million Holdings in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI)

Key Points

• First Foundation Advisors increased its stake in MSCI Inc by 6.2%, holding 7,954 shares valued at $4.5 million according to a recent SEC filing.
• Analysts have mixed ratings on MSCI, with an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a target price around $654.73, while Wells Fargo reduced its target from $578 to $533.
• MSCI recently declared a quarterly dividend of $1.80 per share, with a yield of 1.30% and a dividend payout ratio currently at 47.68%.

First Foundation Advisors grew its stake in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 6.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,954 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 461 shares during the period. First Foundation Advisors' holdings in MSCI were worth $4,498,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MSCI. Menard Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of MSCI in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Olde Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of MSCI in the first quarter worth about $27,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of MSCI by 136.4% in the first quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 52 shares of the technology company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Johnson Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in MSCI by 293.8% during the fourth quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 63 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the period. Finally, Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. increased its stake in MSCI by 50.0% during the first quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 66 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on MSCI shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on MSCI from $578.00 to $533.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Bank of America started coverage on MSCI in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $585.00 price target on the stock. Raymond James Financial upgraded MSCI from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $650.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday. Barclays lowered their price target on MSCI from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated a "market perform" rating on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $654.73.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $552.59, for a total transaction of $2,762,950.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 289,787 shares in the company, valued at $160,133,398.33. This represents a 1.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 84 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $548.69 per share, for a total transaction of $46,089.96. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have purchased 12,400 shares of company stock worth $6,731,599. 3.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

MSCI Trading Up 1.2%

MSCI stock opened at $552.98 on Tuesday. MSCI Inc has a 1-year low of $486.73 and a 1-year high of $642.45. The firm has a market cap of $42.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.32. The business's 50 day moving average is $563.98 and its 200-day moving average is $565.73.

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 analyst estimates of $763.06 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.64 EPS. The company's revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $1.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.30%. MSCI's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.68%.

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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