MSCI Inc $MSCI Shares Purchased by Diversified Trust Co

Key Points

• Diversified Trust Co increased its stake in MSCI Inc by 29.4% in the second quarter, now owning 4,943 shares worth approximately $2.85 million.
• MSCI reported earnings of $4.17 per share for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations and marking a 9.1% year-over-year revenue increase.
• Notable analysts have raised price targets for MSCI stock, with UBS setting a new target of $700 and JPMorgan raising theirs to $655.

Diversified Trust Co boosted its stake in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 29.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,943 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,123 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co's holdings in MSCI were worth $2,851,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ritholtz Wealth Management increased its position in MSCI by 23.2% in the 1st quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 812 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $459,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its position in MSCI by 336.4% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 96 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the period. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC boosted its holdings in MSCI by 6.5% in the 1st quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 524 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $296,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC purchased a new stake in MSCI in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $288,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in MSCI by 8.4% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 894 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $506,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company's stock.

MSCI Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of MSCI stock opened at $560.03 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $562.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $558.88. MSCI Inc has a twelve month low of $486.73 and a twelve month high of $642.45. The stock has a market cap of $43.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.34.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The technology company reported $4.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $772.68 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $763.06 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.64 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th were given 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 of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. MSCI's dividend payout ratio is 47.68%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MSCI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on MSCI from $625.00 to $655.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a 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. UBS Group lifted their price objective on MSCI from $655.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on MSCI from $578.00 to $533.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, MSCI has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $652.45.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 9,916 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 24th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $544.70 per share, with a total value of $5,401,245.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,279,867 shares in the company, valued at approximately $697,143,554.90. This represents a 0.78% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Over the last three months, insiders have bought 12,400 shares of company stock valued at $6,731,599. Corporate insiders own 3.31% of the company's stock.

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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