MSCI Inc $MSCI Holdings Raised by Graham Capital Management L.P.

Key Points

• Graham Capital Management L.P. increased its stake in MSCI Inc by 64.9%, owning a total of 9,865 shares valued at approximately $5.58 million after acquiring an additional 3,882 shares.
• Institutional investors collectively hold 89.97% of MSCI's stock, with various hedge funds recently adjusting their positions, including new investments from Menard Financial Group and Olde Wealth Management.
• MSCI reported earnings of $4.17 EPS for the last quarter, surpassing analyst expectations, and announced a quarterly dividend of $1.80 per share, equating to an annualized yield of 1.3%.

Graham Capital Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 64.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,865 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,882 shares during the quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P.'s holdings in MSCI were worth $5,579,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSCI has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of MSCI from $655.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report 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 for the company in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $654.73.

MSCI Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of NYSE MSCI traded down $3.26 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $550.65. 898,650 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 545,931. The company has a market capitalization of $42.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.34. MSCI Inc has a 52-week low of $486.73 and a 52-week high of $642.45. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $565.70 and a 200-day moving average price of $559.82.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The technology company reported $4.17 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $772.68 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $763.06 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.64 earnings per share. MSCI's revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at MSCI

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 9,916 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 24th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $544.70 per share, for a total transaction of $5,401,245.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,279,867 shares of the company's stock, valued at $697,143,554.90. This trade represents a 0.78% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In the last ninety days, insiders purchased 12,400 shares of company stock worth $6,731,599. Insiders own 3.31% of the company's stock.

MSCI Company 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.