United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund Boosts Stock Position in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI)

Key Points

• United Super Pty Ltd has increased its stake in MSCI Inc by 26.3%, owning approximately 96,638 shares, making it the 15th largest position in its portfolio.
• Insider trading activity includes COO Cd Baer Pettit selling 5,000 shares for nearly $2.76 million and CEO Henry A. Fernandez buying 84 shares recently.
• MSCI announced a quarterly dividend of $1.80 per share, with an annualized yield of 1.3%, set to be paid on August 29th.

United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 26.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 98,638 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 20,527 shares during the quarter. MSCI makes up approximately 2.3% of United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund's investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund owned about 0.13% of MSCI worth $55,780,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cumberland Partners Ltd boosted its position in MSCI by 4.5% during the first quarter. Cumberland Partners Ltd now owns 5,750 shares of the technology company's stock worth $3,252,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in MSCI by 6.7% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 18,148 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $10,263,000 after purchasing an additional 1,145 shares during the period. Commerce Bank raised its stake in shares of MSCI by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 19,770 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $11,180,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the period. Alberta Investment Management Corp grew its stake in shares of MSCI by 5.3% in the first quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 8,000 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $4,524,000 after buying an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EFG Asset Management Americas Corp. boosted its stake in shares of MSCI by 0.8% in the first quarter. EFG Asset Management Americas Corp. now owns 15,280 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $8,641,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares during the period. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MSCI Trading Down 1.8%

NYSE:MSCI traded down $10.31 on Wednesday, hitting $547.42. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,063,876 shares, compared to its average volume of 610,175. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.29. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $563.73 and a two-hundred day moving average of $564.41. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The technology company reported $4.17 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $763.06 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.64 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The company 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 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 is Friday, August 15th. MSCI's dividend payout ratio is 47.68%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 9,916 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 24th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $544.70 per share, with a total value of $5,401,245.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,279,867 shares in the company, valued at $697,143,554.90. The trade was a 0.78% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Over the last 90 days, insiders purchased 12,400 shares of company stock worth $6,731,599. 3.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on MSCI shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped 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. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of MSCI from $673.00 to $631.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of MSCI from $650.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $675.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $654.73.

MSCI Company 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.