Eventide Asset Management LLC Raises Position in MSCI Inc $MSCI

Key Points

• Eventide Asset Management LLC increased its stake in MSCI Inc by 1.8%, bringing its total holdings to 32,676 shares valued at approximately $18.47 million.
• MSCI Inc reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $4.17, exceeding analysts' expectations of $4.12, and noted a revenue increase of 9.1% year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.80 per share, equating to a 1.3% yield, with a total annualized payout projected at $7.20.

Eventide Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 1.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 32,676 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 586 shares during the period. Eventide Asset Management LLC's holdings in MSCI were worth $18,468,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MSCI. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its stake in shares of MSCI by 23.9% in the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 3,743 shares of the technology company's stock worth $2,246,000 after buying an additional 722 shares during the last quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of MSCI in the 4th quarter worth approximately $338,000. Algert Global LLC boosted its stake in shares of MSCI by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 5,924 shares of the technology company's stock worth $3,554,000 after buying an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in shares of MSCI by 9.4% in the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,478 shares of the technology company's stock worth $887,000 after buying an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cary Street Partners Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of MSCI in the 4th quarter worth approximately $77,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company's stock.

MSCI Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MSCI traded up $18.97 during trading on Monday, hitting $574.12. 919,894 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 605,597. The company has a market cap of $44.41 billion, a PE ratio of 38.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.34. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $564.68 and a 200 day moving average of $559.31. MSCI Inc has a 52-week low of $486.73 and a 52-week 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.12 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $772.68 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $763.06 million. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 143.13% and a net margin of 39.46%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.64 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th were given a dividend of $1.80 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. MSCI's dividend payout ratio is currently 47.68%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 84 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $548.69 per share, for a total transaction of $46,089.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,279,951 shares in the company, valued at approximately $702,296,314.19. The trade was a 0.01% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders acquired a total of 12,400 shares of company stock worth $6,731,599 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 3.31% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSCI has been the topic of several research analyst reports. UBS Group upped their price objective on MSCI from $655.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Raymond James Financial upgraded MSCI from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $650.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on MSCI from $650.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average 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.