Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Buys New Holdings in MSCI Inc $MSCI

Key Points

• Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. acquired 211,154 shares of MSCI Inc., valued at approximately $119.4 million, during the first quarter, representing a 0.27% ownership in the company.
• MSCI recently reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $4.17 for the last quarter, exceeding analyst estimates of $4.12, with revenue up 9.1% year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $1.80 per share, translating to an annual yield of 1.3% and a dividend payout ratio of 47.68%.

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. bought a new stake in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm bought 211,154 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $119,408,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. owned approximately 0.27% of MSCI as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Menard Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in MSCI in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Olde Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI during the first quarter valued at about $27,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of MSCI by 136.4% during the first quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 52 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Colonial Trust Co SC boosted its stake in shares of MSCI by 122.6% during the fourth quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 69 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at MSCI

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 9,916 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 24th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $544.70 per share, with a total value of $5,401,245.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,279,867 shares in the company, valued at approximately $697,143,554.90. The trade was a 0.78% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Over the last three months, insiders bought 12,400 shares of company stock valued at $6,731,599. Company insiders own 3.31% of the company's stock.

MSCI Stock Down 0.9%

MSCI traded down $5.45 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $569.13. 668,530 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 605,981. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.34. MSCI Inc has a 1-year low of $486.73 and a 1-year high of $642.45. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $564.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $559.28.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The technology company reported $4.17 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $772.68 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $763.06 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.64 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th were given a $1.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was 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%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MSCI. Wells Fargo & Company cut 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. UBS Group lifted their price target on MSCI from $655.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on MSCI from $650.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised 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, July 25th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MSCI presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $654.73.

About MSCI

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.