University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. Makes New $547,000 Investment in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI)

Key Points

• The University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. acquired 968 shares of MSCI Inc, valued at approximately $547,000, during the first quarter.
• MSCI Inc reported earnings of $4.17 per share, exceeding analysts' expectations, with a revenue increase of 9.1% year-over-year to $772.68 million.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $1.80 per share, with an annualized yield of 1.32%, to be paid at the end of August.

University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. purchased a new position in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 968 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $547,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in MSCI by 15.4% in the first quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 142 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $80,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Optivise Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of MSCI by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Optivise Advisory Services LLC now owns 540 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $306,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in MSCI by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC now owns 361 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $204,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC boosted its position in MSCI by 16.8% during the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 146 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $83,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Salvus Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in MSCI by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Salvus Wealth Management LLC now owns 824 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $466,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MSCI traded up $10.20 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $569.35. 424,494 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 593,893. MSCI Inc has a one year low of $486.73 and a one year high of $642.45. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $563.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $565.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.71, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 1.32.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last posted 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. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 143.13% and a net margin of 39.46%. The company had revenue of $772.68 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $763.06 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.64 earnings per share. MSCI's revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.26%. MSCI's dividend payout ratio is currently 47.68%.

Insider Activity at MSCI

In other MSCI news, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 289,787 shares in the company, valued at approximately $160,133,398.33. This trade represents a 1.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 9,916 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 24th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $544.70 per share, for a total transaction of $5,401,245.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,279,867 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $697,143,554.90. This trade represents a 0.78% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders acquired 12,400 shares of company stock worth $6,731,599 over the last quarter. Insiders own 3.31% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on MSCI. Oppenheimer restated a "market perform" rating on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of MSCI from $673.00 to $631.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $675.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of MSCI from $655.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price 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.