Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Purchases 1,624 Shares of MSCI Inc $MSCI

Key Points

• Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in MSCI Inc by 40.2%, owning 5,667 shares valued at approximately $3.2 million after acquiring an additional 1,624 shares during the first quarter.
• MSCI's recent earnings report revealed a quarterly EPS of $4.17, surpassing analyst expectations of $4.12, with a revenue of $772.68 million.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $1.80 per share, with an ex-dividend date of August 15, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 1.3%.

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its stake in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 40.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 5,667 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 1,624 shares during the quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.'s holdings in MSCI were worth $3,205,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSCI. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC lifted its stake in MSCI by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 1,663 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $998,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC bought a new stake in MSCI in the fourth quarter valued at $766,000. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC bought a new stake in MSCI in the fourth quarter valued at $1,333,000. Lido Advisors LLC lifted its stake in MSCI by 22.3% in the fourth quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 1,157 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $694,000 after buying an additional 211 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in MSCI by 54.3% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 144,977 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $86,988,000 after buying an additional 50,997 shares during the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

MSCI Trading Down 0.2%

NYSE:MSCI traded down $0.98 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $567.57. 498,985 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 589,100. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $565.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $559.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.91 billion, a PE ratio of 37.59, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.34. MSCI Inc has a 1-year low of $486.73 and a 1-year high of $642.45.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last issued 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. The firm had revenue of $772.68 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $763.06 million. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 143.13% and a net margin of 39.46%.MSCI's revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.64 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 9,916 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 24th. The shares were bought at an average price of $544.70 per share, with a total value of $5,401,245.20. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,279,867 shares in the company, valued at $697,143,554.90. The trade was a 0.78% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Over the last 90 days, insiders bought 12,400 shares of company stock worth $6,731,599. Insiders own 3.31% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MSCI. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of MSCI from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $650.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of MSCI from $578.00 to $533.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of MSCI from $650.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective 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. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MSCI presently has a consensus 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.