Rafferty Asset Management LLC Has $14.40 Million Stock Holdings in MSCI Inc $MSCI

Key Points

• Rafferty Asset Management LLC has reduced its stake in MSCI Inc by 8.0%, selling 2,200 shares in the first quarter, leaving them with 25,455 shares worth approximately $14.4 million.
• MSCI Inc plans to pay a quarterly dividend of $1.80 on August 29, resulting in an annual yield of 1.3% and a payout ratio of 47.68%.
• Following recent earnings reports, analysts have set varied price targets for MSCI, with JPMorgan raising its target from $650.00 to $680.00 while Wells Fargo decreased theirs from $578.00 to $533.00.

Rafferty Asset Management LLC cut its stake in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 8.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 25,455 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 2,200 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC's holdings in MSCI were worth $14,395,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSCI. Findlay Park Partners LLP grew its position in MSCI by 1.4% in the first quarter. Findlay Park Partners LLP now owns 206,400 shares of the technology company's stock worth $116,719,000 after acquiring an additional 2,800 shares in the last quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC bought a new stake in MSCI in the first quarter worth approximately $21,913,000. Taikang Asset Management Hong Kong Co Ltd grew its position in MSCI by 119.8% in the first quarter. Taikang Asset Management Hong Kong Co Ltd now owns 15,730 shares of the technology company's stock worth $8,895,000 after acquiring an additional 8,573 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC grew its position in MSCI by 4.5% in the first quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 188,234 shares of the technology company's stock worth $106,447,000 after acquiring an additional 8,078 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Comerica Bank grew its position in MSCI by 7.4% in the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 27,368 shares of the technology company's stock worth $15,476,000 after acquiring an additional 1,875 shares in the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MSCI Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MSCI traded down $0.98 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $567.57. 498,985 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 616,803. The company's 50 day moving average is $565.89 and its 200 day moving average is $559.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.29. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The technology company reported $4.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.12 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $772.68 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $763.06 million. MSCI had a net margin of 39.46% and a negative return on equity of 143.13%. MSCI's quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.64 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 84 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $548.69 per share, with a total value of $46,089.96. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,279,951 shares in the company, valued at approximately $702,296,314.19. This trade represents a 0.01% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Over the last ninety days, insiders have acquired 12,400 shares of company stock valued at $6,731,599. 3.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Raymond James Financial raised 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. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of MSCI from $655.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of MSCI from $650.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target 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.