Russell Investments Group Ltd. Purchases 68,616 Shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI)

Key Points

• Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in MSCI Inc by 20.2%, acquiring an additional 68,616 shares, bringing its total holding to approximately 408,142 shares worth $230.6 million.
• MSCI reported quarterly earnings of $4.17 per share, exceeding analysts' expectations and showing a 9.1% increase in revenue compared to the previous year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $1.80 per share, with a dividend yield of 1.3% and a payout ratio of 47.68%.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 20.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 408,142 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 68,616 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned 0.53% of MSCI worth $230,639,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of MSCI by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 25,578 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $14,431,000 after buying an additional 1,175 shares in the last quarter. Callan Family Office LLC increased its position in shares of MSCI by 25.8% during the 1st quarter. Callan Family Office LLC now owns 1,880 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,063,000 after purchasing an additional 386 shares in the last quarter. Bulltick Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI during the 1st quarter worth about $3,970,000. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its position in shares of MSCI by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 20,802 shares of the technology company's stock worth $11,764,000 after purchasing an additional 428 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meridian Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of MSCI by 12.9% during the 1st quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 762 shares of the technology company's stock worth $431,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped 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. 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. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $675.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $654.73.

MSCI Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MSCI traded down $0.95 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $566.48. The company's stock had a trading volume of 362,921 shares, compared to its average volume of 607,133. The stock has a market cap of $43.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 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 fifty day simple moving average is $562.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $562.09.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The technology company reported $4.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.12 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $772.68 million for 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 company's revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.64 EPS. On average, sell-side 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 will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a $1.80 dividend. 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 47.68%.

Insider Activity

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 9,916 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 24th. The shares were bought at an average price of $544.70 per share, with a total value of $5,401,245.20. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 1,279,867 shares of the company's stock, valued at $697,143,554.90. This trade represents a 0.78% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Over the last 90 days, insiders have bought 12,400 shares of company stock valued at $6,731,599. 3.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.