FJ Capital Management LLC Boosts Stock Position in MSCI Inc $MSCI

Key Points

• FJ Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in MSCI Inc by 50.5%, now owning 1,573 shares valued at approximately $890,000.
• Analysts recently set new price targets for MSCI, with JPMorgan raising it from $650 to $680, and UBS increasing it from $655 to $700, indicating a positive outlook for the stock.
• MSCI announced a quarterly dividend of $1.80, yielding 1.3%, with a payout ratio of 47.68% based on current earnings.

FJ Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 50.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,573 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 528 shares during the quarter. FJ Capital Management LLC's holdings in MSCI were worth $890,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ritholtz Wealth Management raised its stake in MSCI by 23.2% during the 1st quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 812 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $459,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in MSCI by 336.4% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 96 shares of the technology company's stock worth $54,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC boosted its stake in MSCI by 6.5% during the 1st quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 524 shares of the technology company's stock worth $296,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC acquired a new stake in MSCI during the 4th quarter worth approximately $556,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of MSCI by 8.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 894 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $506,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

MSCI Price Performance

Shares of MSCI traded down $3.26 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $550.65. 898,650 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 545,931. MSCI Inc has a one year low of $486.73 and a one year high of $642.45. The firm has a market cap of $42.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.47, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.34. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $565.32 and a 200-day moving average of $559.76.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The technology company reported $4.17 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 during 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. MSCI's revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSCI has been the topic of several analyst reports. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of MSCI from $655.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of MSCI from $650.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of 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 price objective on shares of MSCI from $578.00 to $533.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $654.73.

Insider Buying and Selling at MSCI

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 84 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $548.69 per share, with a total value of $46,089.96. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 1,279,951 shares in the company, valued at $702,296,314.19. This trade represents a 0.01% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders purchased a total of 12,400 shares of company stock worth $6,731,599 over the last ninety days. Corporate 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.