MSCI Inc $MSCI Shares Acquired by Findlay Park Partners LLP

Key Points

• Findlay Park Partners LLP increased its stake in MSCI Inc by 1.4%, now owning 206,400 shares worth approximately $116.7 million.
• Recent earnings reported a 4.17 EPS for the quarter, surpassing estimates and reflecting a 9.1% revenue growth year-over-year.
• MSCI's quarterly dividend of $1.80 will be paid on August 29th, offering an annualized yield of 1.3%.

Findlay Park Partners LLP increased its position in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 1.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 206,400 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,800 shares during the quarter. Findlay Park Partners LLP owned 0.27% of MSCI worth $116,719,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Menard Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in MSCI in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Olde Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of MSCI in the first quarter worth about $27,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in MSCI by 136.4% during the 1st 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 period. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. increased its stake in MSCI by 50.0% in 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, Johnson Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of MSCI by 293.8% during the fourth quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 63 shares of the technology company's stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MSCI. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price 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. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of 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 shares of MSCI from $650.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised shares of MSCI from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $650.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, July 25th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $654.73.

MSCI Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of NYSE:MSCI opened at $574.5680 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $563.91 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $560.08. MSCI Inc has a twelve month low of $486.73 and a twelve month high of $642.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.45 billion, a PE ratio of 38.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 1.29.

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

MSCI Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 84 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $548.69 per share, for a total transaction of $46,089.96. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 1,279,951 shares in the company, valued at $702,296,314.19. This trade represents a 0.01% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders have bought 12,400 shares of company stock worth $6,731,599. 3.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.

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