Level Four Advisory Services LLC Has $5.88 Million Stock Position in MSCI Inc $MSCI

Key Points

• Level Four Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in MSCI Inc, boosting its holdings by 8.5% to a total of 10,401 shares, worth approximately $5.88 million.
• Several hedge funds, including Guggenheim Capital and First Trust Advisors, also grew their investments in MSCI during the last quarter, resulting in 89.97% of the stock being owned by institutional investors.
• MSCI announced a quarterly dividend of $1.80 per share, which translates to an annualized dividend yield of 1.3%.

Level Four Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 8.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,401 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 816 shares during the period. Level Four Advisory Services LLC's holdings in MSCI were worth $5,882,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its stake in MSCI by 15.4% during the first quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 142 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $80,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the period. Optivise Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Optivise Advisory Services LLC now owns 540 shares of the technology company's stock worth $306,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of MSCI by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC now owns 361 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $204,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC increased its stake in MSCI by 16.8% in the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 146 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $83,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the period. Finally, Salvus Wealth Management LLC raised its position in MSCI by 2.6% in the first quarter. Salvus Wealth Management LLC now owns 824 shares of the technology company's stock worth $466,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on MSCI. Raymond James Financial raised MSCI from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $650.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, July 25th. UBS Group upped their price target on MSCI from $655.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on MSCI from $650.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, 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. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $654.73.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 84 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, 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 document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In the last quarter, insiders purchased 12,400 shares of company stock valued at $6,731,599. Insiders own 3.31% of the company's stock.

MSCI Stock Performance

NYSE:MSCI traded up $6.3540 on Friday, reaching $573.6240. The company's stock had a trading volume of 380,090 shares, compared to its average volume of 803,549. MSCI Inc has a 1-year low of $486.73 and a 1-year high of $642.45. The business's 50-day moving average price is $563.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $560.30. The firm has a market cap of $44.38 billion, a PE ratio of 37.99, a PEG ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 1.29.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $4.12 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $772.68 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $763.06 million. MSCI had a net margin of 39.46% and a negative return on equity of 143.13%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.64 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be given a $1.80 dividend. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. MSCI's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 47.68%.

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.