PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Has $10.26 Million Stock Holdings in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI)

Key Points

• PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in MSCI Inc by 6.7% in the first quarter, owning a total of 18,148 shares valued at approximately $10.26 million.
• CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 9,916 shares at an average price of $544.70, raising his ownership in the company.
• MSCI reported earnings of $4.17 per share for the last quarter, surpassing the analysts' expectations of $4.12, with revenue increasing by 9.1% year-over-year.

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 6.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 18,148 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,145 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.'s holdings in MSCI were worth $10,263,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Menard Financial Group LLC bought a new position in MSCI in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Olde Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI during the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in MSCI by 136.4% in the first quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 52 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. raised its position in shares of MSCI by 50.0% during the first quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 66 shares of the technology company's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. Finally, Johnson Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in MSCI by 293.8% in the 4th quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 63 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on MSCI shares. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of MSCI from $673.00 to $631.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a 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 for the company in a research note on Friday, July 25th. UBS Group raised their target price on MSCI from $655.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of MSCI in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $585.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $675.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MSCI has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $654.73.

Insider Activity at MSCI

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

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MSCI traded down $10.31 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $547.42. 1,064,861 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 998,048. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $563.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $564.41. MSCI Inc has a 52 week low of $486.73 and a 52 week high of $642.45. The company has a market cap of $42.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.29.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The technology company reported $4.17 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.12 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $772.68 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 in the prior year, the firm earned $3.64 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a $1.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. MSCI's dividend payout ratio is presently 47.68%.

MSCI 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.