Lincoln Capital LLC Invests $1.35 Million in MSCI Inc $MSCI

Key Points

• Lincoln Capital LLC made a new investment in MSCI Inc, purchasing 2,507 shares valued at approximately $1.35 million during the first quarter, indicating increased interest from institutional investors.
• The company recently reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $4.17, beating estimates by $0.05, with revenue of $772.68 million, a 9.1% increase year-over-year.
• MSCI announced a quarterly dividend of $1.80 per share, with a 1.3% dividend yield, and 89.97% of its stock is now held by institutional investors.

Lincoln Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 2,507 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $1,350,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its stake in shares of MSCI by 15.4% during the 1st quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 142 shares of the technology company's stock worth $80,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Optivise Advisory Services LLC increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake 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 worth $204,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of MSCI by 16.8% during the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 146 shares of the technology company's stock worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Salvus Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of MSCI by 2.6% during the 1st 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 and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MSCI traded up $6.3540 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $573.6240. 380,090 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 803,549. The company has a market cap of $44.38 billion, a PE ratio of 37.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.29. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $563.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $560.45. MSCI Inc has a twelve month low of $486.73 and a twelve month high of $642.45.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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. 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 business's quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.64 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a $1.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date is 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%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James Financial raised shares of MSCI from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $650.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of MSCI from $578.00 to $533.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price 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. Ten research 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 currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $654.73.

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.