NS Partners Ltd Purchases 652 Shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI)

Key Points

• NS Partners Ltd increased its stake in MSCI Inc by 0.9%, owning approximately $43.70 million worth of shares, which makes MSCI the firm's 11th largest position.
• MSCI recently announced a quarterly dividend of $1.80 per share, equating to an annualized dividend of $7.20 and a yield of 1.3%.
• JPMorgan Chase raised its price target on MSCI shares from $650.00 to $680.00, maintaining an "overweight" rating amid positive analyst outlooks for the stock.

NS Partners Ltd raised its holdings in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 0.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 77,283 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 652 shares during the period. MSCI accounts for approximately 1.9% of NS Partners Ltd's holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. NS Partners Ltd owned about 0.10% of MSCI worth $43,704,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its position in MSCI by 23.2% during the 1st quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 812 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $459,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of 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 raised its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 32 shares during the period. NorthRock Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $556,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 69 shares during the period. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MSCI. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of MSCI from $578.00 to $533.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Oppenheimer reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of MSCI from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $650.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 25th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of MSCI from $655.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued 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 data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $654.73.

Insider Buying and Selling at MSCI

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 9,916 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,279,867 shares of the company's stock, 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 SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Over the last three months, insiders have purchased 12,400 shares of company stock worth $6,731,599. 3.31% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

MSCI Stock Performance

NYSE MSCI traded up $1.24 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $546.73. 608,676 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,042,163. The company has a market capitalization of $42.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.29. MSCI Inc has a one year low of $486.73 and a one year high of $642.45. The company's 50-day moving average is $562.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $562.99.

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 the consensus estimate of $4.12 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $772.68 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $763.06 million. MSCI had a net margin of 39.46% and a negative return on equity of 143.13%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.64 EPS. Research analysts predict that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

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

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.