Washington Capital Management Inc. Invests $288,000 in MSCI Inc $MSCI

Key Points

• Washington Capital Management Inc. has invested $288,000 in MSCI Inc, purchasing 500 shares of the technology company's stock.
• MSCI reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $4.17 for the last quarter, exceeding expectations and making it a candidate for ongoing analyst interest.
• Corporate insiders own 3.31% of MSCI's stock, with CEO Henry A. Fernandez recently increasing his stake by purchasing 84 shares valued at approximately $46,089.96.

Washington Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 500 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $288,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of MSCI by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,376,852 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $5,302,610,000 after acquiring an additional 518,833 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of MSCI by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,626,923 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $920,026,000 after acquiring an additional 13,918 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of MSCI by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,008,778 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $570,464,000 after acquiring an additional 19,846 shares during the period. PineStone Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of MSCI by 11.9% during the 2nd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 890,123 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $513,370,000 after acquiring an additional 94,466 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of MSCI by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 804,640 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $455,024,000 after acquiring an additional 20,150 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 84 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $548.69 per share, for a total transaction of $46,089.96. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,279,951 shares in the company, valued at $702,296,314.19. The trade was a 0.01% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In the last three months, insiders have acquired 12,400 shares of company stock valued at $6,731,599. Corporate insiders own 3.31% of the company's stock.

MSCI Price Performance

NYSE MSCI opened at $565.40 on Monday. MSCI Inc has a 1 year low of $486.73 and a 1 year high of $642.45. The firm has a market cap of $43.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.44, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $562.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $559.53.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The technology company reported $4.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.12 by $0.05. MSCI had a net margin of 39.46% and a negative return on equity of 143.13%. The firm had revenue of $772.68 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $763.06 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.64 EPS. The business's revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The company 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. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. MSCI's dividend payout ratio is presently 47.68%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on MSCI shares. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of MSCI from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $650.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of MSCI from $578.00 to $533.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of MSCI from $625.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 10th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $652.45.

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.

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