Meitav Investment House Ltd. Raises Holdings in MSCI Inc $MSCI

Key Points

• Meitav Investment House Ltd. increased its holdings in MSCI Inc by 43.2% during the second quarter, resulting in ownership of 5,453 shares valued at approximately $3.15 million.
• Vanguard Group Inc. and other institutional investors have also significantly increased their positions in MSCI, with Vanguard raising its holdings by 5.9% and AQR Capital Management boosting its position by 355.7% in the first quarter.
• MSCI reported earnings of $4.17 per share, exceeding analyst expectations and marking a year-over-year revenue increase of 9.1% to $772.68 million.

Meitav Investment House Ltd. lifted its position in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 43.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,453 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,645 shares during the period. Meitav Investment House Ltd.'s holdings in MSCI were worth $3,145,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of MSCI by 5.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,376,852 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $5,302,610,000 after buying an additional 518,833 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in MSCI by 355.7% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 660,690 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $365,976,000 after acquiring an additional 515,713 shares during the period. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich raised its stake in MSCI by 605,802.9% during the 1st quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 212,066 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $129,903,000 after acquiring an additional 212,031 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of MSCI in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $119,408,000. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of MSCI in the first quarter valued at approximately $117,879,000. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MSCI opened at $564.81 on Tuesday. The business's fifty day moving average price is $563.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $559.43. The stock has a market cap of $43.69 billion, a PE ratio of 37.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.33. MSCI Inc has a one year low of $486.73 and a one year high of $642.45.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The technology company reported $4.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.12 by $0.05. MSCI had a net margin of 39.46% and a negative return on equity of 143.13%. The business had revenue of $772.68 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $763.06 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.64 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders 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 yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. MSCI's dividend payout ratio is 47.68%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on MSCI shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on MSCI from $625.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. 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. Seaport Res Ptn raised MSCI to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of MSCI in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of MSCI from $655.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, MSCI currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $652.45.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 9,916 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,279,867 shares in the company, valued at $697,143,554.90. This represents a 0.78% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders bought 12,400 shares of company stock valued at $6,731,599 in the last three months. 3.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.

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