MSCI Inc $MSCI Stock Holdings Increased by Petrus Trust Company LTA

Key Points

• Petrus Trust Company LTA increased its holdings in MSCI Inc by 11.5% during the first quarter, bringing their total shares to 57,058, valued at approximately $32.27 million.
• CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 9,916 shares of MSCI, raising his total ownership to about $697.14 million, following an insider trend where executives bought a total of 12,400 shares over the past three months.
• MSCI reported a 9.1% year-over-year revenue growth, achieving $772.68 million for the latest quarter, with earnings per share of $4.17, slightly exceeding analyst expectations.

Petrus Trust Company LTA grew its holdings in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 11.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 57,058 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 5,892 shares during the period. MSCI accounts for 3.0% of Petrus Trust Company LTA's portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Petrus Trust Company LTA owned approximately 0.07% of MSCI worth $32,266,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its position in shares of MSCI by 15.4% during the first quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 142 shares of the technology company's stock worth $80,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Optivise Advisory Services LLC grew its position in MSCI by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Optivise Advisory Services LLC now owns 540 shares of the technology company's stock worth $306,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in MSCI by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC now owns 361 shares of the technology company's stock worth $204,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC grew its position in MSCI by 16.8% in the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 146 shares of the technology company's stock worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Salvus Wealth Management LLC grew its position in MSCI by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Salvus Wealth Management LLC now owns 824 shares of the technology company's stock worth $466,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at MSCI

In other news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 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, for a total transaction of $5,401,245.20. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,279,867 shares in the company, valued at $697,143,554.90. This represents a 0.78% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders have bought 12,400 shares of company stock valued at $6,731,599 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 3.31% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSCI has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of MSCI from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $650.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of MSCI from $578.00 to $533.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of MSCI from $625.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price 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. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $652.45.

MSCI Trading Down 1.1%

MSCI traded down $6.43 on Wednesday, reaching $562.73. The company had a trading volume of 648,649 shares, compared to its average volume of 606,244. MSCI Inc has a one year low of $486.73 and a one year high of $642.45. The company has a fifty day moving average of $564.39 and a 200-day moving average of $559.35. The company has a market capitalization of $43.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.27, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 1.34.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The technology company reported $4.17 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $772.68 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $763.06 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.64 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

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