TD Asset Management Inc Acquires 3,815 Shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI)

Key Points

• TD Asset Management Inc increased its stake in MSCI Inc by 11.2% during the first quarter, now holding a total of 37,853 shares valued at approximately $21.4 million.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $1.80 per share which will be paid on August 29th, providing an annualized yield of 1.29%.
• Wall Street analysts have mixed views on MSCI's stock, with price targets ranging from $533 to $700 and a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy."

TD Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 11.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 37,853 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 3,815 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc's holdings in MSCI were worth $21,406,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of MSCI by 23.2% during the first quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 812 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $459,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of MSCI by 336.4% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 96 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC raised its position in MSCI by 6.5% in the first quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 524 shares of the technology company's stock worth $296,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the period. Rathbones Group PLC raised its position in MSCI by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 59,741 shares of the technology company's stock worth $35,845,000 after acquiring an additional 2,123 shares during the period. Finally, NorthRock Partners LLC bought a new stake in MSCI in the fourth quarter worth about $556,000. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSCI has been the topic of several research reports. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of MSCI from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Raymond James Financial raised shares of MSCI from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $650.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $675.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced 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 note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $654.73.

MSCI Stock Down 0.7%

NYSE:MSCI traded down $4.08 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $557.28. 1,052,973 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 893,470. The business's 50-day moving average price is $563.67 and its 200 day moving average price is $565.49. The company has a market cap of $43.11 billion, a PE ratio of 36.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.29. MSCI Inc has a 12-month low of $486.73 and a 12-month high of $642.45.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The technology company reported $4.17 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.12 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $772.68 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $763.06 million. MSCI had a net margin of 39.46% and a negative return on equity of 143.13%. MSCI's revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.64 earnings per share. 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 will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a $1.80 dividend. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. MSCI's payout ratio is currently 47.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other MSCI news, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $552.59, for a total value of $2,762,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 289,787 shares of the company's stock, valued at $160,133,398.33. The trade was a 1.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 9,916 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 24th. The stock was bought at an average cost 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 in the company, valued at approximately $697,143,554.90. This represents a 0.78% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders acquired 12,400 shares of company stock valued at $6,731,599. Corporate insiders own 3.31% of the company's stock.

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.