Royal Bank of Canada Acquires 134,303 Shares of MSCI Inc $MSCI

Key Points

• The Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in MSCI Inc by 38.4%, acquiring 134,303 shares in the first quarter, bringing its total holdings to 483,873 shares worth approximately $273.6 million.
• MSCI recently posted earnings of $4.17 per share, exceeding analyst estimates, with revenue of $772.68 million for the quarter, reflecting a 9.1% year-over-year increase.
• Wall Street analysts have shown confidence in MSCI, with ten analysts giving it a Buy rating and a consensus target price of $654.73, predicting robust growth for the stock.

Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 38.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 483,873 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 134,303 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada owned about 0.63% of MSCI worth $273,631,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Menard Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of MSCI during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Olde Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of MSCI during the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in MSCI by 136.4% in the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. grew its holdings in MSCI by 50.0% in the 1st quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 66 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Colonial Trust Co SC grew its holdings in MSCI by 122.6% in the 4th quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 69 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MSCI Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:MSCI traded down $1.76 during trading on Friday, reaching $555.43. 626,839 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 529,941. The company's 50 day moving average is $564.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $559.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.97 billion, a PE ratio of 36.78, a PEG ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 1.34. MSCI Inc has a 52 week low of $486.73 and a 52 week high of $642.45.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The technology company reported $4.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.12 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $772.68 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $763.06 million. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 143.13% and a net margin of 39.46%.The company's revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.64 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th were given 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 was Friday, August 15th. MSCI's dividend payout ratio is currently 47.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling at MSCI

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSCI has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group upped their price objective on MSCI from $655.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on MSCI from $578.00 to $533.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Raymond James Financial raised MSCI from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $650.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on MSCI from $650.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a 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's stock. According to MarketBeat, MSCI currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $654.73.

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.