Westfield Capital Management Co. LP Acquires 26,696 Shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI)

Key Points

• Westfield Capital Management Co. LP increased its stake in MSCI Inc by 17.9% in Q1, owning 175,636 shares valued at approximately $99.3 million.
• MSCI's latest earnings report showed an EPS of $4.17, surpassing estimates, with quarterly revenue up 9.1% year-over-year to $772.68 million.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $1.80 per share, representing an annual yield of 1.3% with a payout ratio of 47.68%.

Westfield Capital Management Co. LP lifted its holdings in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 17.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 175,636 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 26,696 shares during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP owned approximately 0.23% of MSCI worth $99,322,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MSCI. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of MSCI by 16,353.6% during the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 587,557 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $352,539,000 after buying an additional 583,986 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 61,179.6% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 505,557 shares of the technology company's stock worth $285,892,000 after purchasing an additional 504,732 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its position in shares of MSCI by 3,881.3% in the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 419,429 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $251,662,000 after purchasing an additional 408,894 shares during the period. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich lifted its position in MSCI by 605,802.9% during the first quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 212,066 shares of the technology company's stock worth $129,903,000 after buying an additional 212,031 shares during the period. Finally, Raiffeisen Bank International AG acquired a new stake in MSCI in the 4th quarter worth about $103,424,000. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MSCI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on MSCI from $650.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Bank of America started coverage on MSCI in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $585.00 target price on the stock. Oppenheimer restated a "market perform" rating on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Raymond James Financial raised MSCI from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $650.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $675.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $654.73.

Insider Buying and Selling at MSCI

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 84 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $548.69 per share, with a total value of $46,089.96. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 1,279,951 shares of the company's stock, valued at $702,296,314.19. This represents a 0.01% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In the last 90 days, insiders have acquired 12,400 shares of company stock worth $6,731,599. Company insiders own 3.31% of the company's stock.

MSCI Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of MSCI traded down $10.31 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $547.42. 1,064,861 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 998,048. The firm's fifty day moving average is $563.73 and its 200 day moving average is $564.41. MSCI Inc has a fifty-two week low of $486.73 and a fifty-two week high of $642.45. The company has a market cap of $42.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.29.

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

MSCI Announces Dividend

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

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.