Victory Capital Management Inc. Raises Holdings in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI)

Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 1.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 56,369 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 980 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned about 0.07% of MSCI worth $31,877,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI in the first quarter worth about $236,000. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of MSCI by 371.1% during the 1st quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 212 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $120,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC grew its holdings in shares of MSCI by 5.9% in the first quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 6,207 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $3,510,000 after purchasing an additional 346 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. increased its position in MSCI by 1.7% in the first quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 1,469 shares of the technology company's stock worth $831,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Apollon Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in MSCI by 9.8% during the first quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,501 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $3,111,000 after purchasing an additional 489 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company's stock.

MSCI Trading Up 2.5%

Shares of MSCI stock traded up $13.10 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $543.96. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,252,005 shares, compared to its average volume of 696,535. The stock has a market cap of $42.08 billion, a PE ratio of 36.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a 50 day moving average of $564.87 and a 200 day moving average of $566.70. 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 released its quarterly earnings data 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. 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%. The firm'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. As a group, analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be given a $1.80 dividend. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. MSCI's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.48%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MSCI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of MSCI from $650.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday. UBS Group raised their price objective on MSCI from $655.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company cut 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. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $675.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $650.18.

Insider Buying and Selling at MSCI

In related news, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief operating officer owned 289,787 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $160,133,398.33. This trade represents a 1.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 3.31% of the stock is currently owned by 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.