Stony Point Capital LLC Purchases 10,562 Shares of MSCI Inc $MSCI

Key Points

• Stony Point Capital LLC increased its stake in MSCI Inc by 65.2%, owning a total of 26,769 shares valued at approximately $15.1 million.
• Analysts have mixed opinions on MSCI, with target price adjustments ranging from $533 to $700, and a general consensus rating of Moderate Buy.
• MSCI recently announced a quarterly dividend of $1.80, translating to an annual yield of 1.3%, to be paid on August 29th.

Stony Point Capital LLC increased its position in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 65.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,769 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 10,562 shares during the period. MSCI comprises about 1.6% of Stony Point Capital LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position. Stony Point Capital LLC's holdings in MSCI were worth $15,138,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its position in MSCI by 18.9% in the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 102,602 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $58,021,000 after acquiring an additional 16,314 shares during the period. WPG Advisers LLC bought a new position in MSCI in the first quarter valued at about $62,000. Tema Etfs LLC boosted its holdings in MSCI by 143.6% during the first quarter. Tema Etfs LLC now owns 2,901 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,641,000 after buying an additional 1,710 shares during the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in MSCI during the first quarter worth about $272,000. Finally, Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. bought a new position in MSCI during the first quarter worth about $296,000. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group raised their price target on 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 dropped their target price on MSCI from $578.00 to $533.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research 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 target on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on MSCI from $650.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Ten 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 presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $654.73.

Insider Activity at MSCI

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 84 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The shares were bought at an average price 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 approximately $702,296,314.19. This trade represents a 0.01% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In the last 90 days, insiders bought 12,400 shares of company stock worth $6,731,599. 3.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

MSCI Trading Down 2.5%

MSCI traded down $14.24 on Tuesday, reaching $553.48. The stock had a trading volume of 845,212 shares, compared to its average volume of 601,894. MSCI Inc has a fifty-two week low of $486.73 and a fifty-two week high of $642.45. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $566.13 and a 200-day moving average of $559.86. The company has a market capitalization of $42.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.34.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.12 by $0.05. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 143.13% and a net margin of 39.46%.The business had revenue of $772.68 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $763.06 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.64 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

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

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.