Vancity Investment Management Ltd Purchases New Position in MSCI Inc $MSCI

Key Points

• Vancity Investment Management Ltd has acquired 28,144 shares of MSCI Inc, representing a stake valued at approximately $15.9 million, making up 2.2% of its investment portfolio.
• Wall Street analysts have issued a favorable outlook on MSCI, with ten analysts rating the stock as a "Buy" and an average price target of $654.73.
• MSCI recently announced a quarterly dividend of $1.80 per share, reflecting an annualized dividend yield of 1.3% and a payout ratio of 47.68%.

Vancity Investment Management Ltd bought a new position in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 28,144 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $15,915,000. MSCI makes up about 2.2% of Vancity Investment Management Ltd's portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ritholtz Wealth Management grew its position in MSCI by 23.2% in the first quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 812 shares of the technology company's stock worth $459,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 336.4% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 96 shares of the technology company's stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the period. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 6.5% during the 1st quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 524 shares of the technology company's stock worth $296,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the period. NorthRock Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of MSCI during the 4th quarter worth $556,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 8.4% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 894 shares of the technology company's stock worth $506,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the period. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on MSCI shares. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of MSCI from $655.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of MSCI from $625.00 to $655.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective 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. Finally, Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of MSCI from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $650.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, July 25th. 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.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $652.45.

MSCI Stock Down 0.5%

NYSE:MSCI traded down $2.71 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $582.77. 722,142 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 562,666. MSCI Inc has a 12 month low of $486.73 and a 12 month high of $642.45. The company has a fifty day moving average of $563.83 and a 200 day moving average of $559.44. The stock has a market cap of $45.09 billion, a PE ratio of 38.59, a PEG ratio of 2.86 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, 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, equities research analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th were paid a $1.80 dividend. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was 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.

About MSCI

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.