State of Alaska Department of Revenue Raises Stock Holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 0.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,955 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue’s holdings in MSCI were worth $6,139,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. grew its position in shares of MSCI by 0.6% during the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 187,388 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $105,022,000 after buying an additional 1,119 shares in the last quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in MSCI by 4,007.5% during the 1st quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,820 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,141,000 after acquiring an additional 3,727 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of MSCI by 7.7% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 48,601 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $27,239,000 after purchasing an additional 3,465 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. raised its stake in MSCI by 24.3% during the first quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 92,616 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $51,907,000 after buying an additional 18,080 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diversified Trust Co raised its position in shares of MSCI by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 1,788 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,002,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at MSCI

In other MSCI news, COO Cd Baer Pettit acquired 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 25th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $459.41 per share, for a total transaction of $3,445,575.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief operating officer now owns 291,038 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $133,705,767.58. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, COO Cd Baer Pettit bought 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $459.41 per share, for a total transaction of $3,445,575.00. Following the purchase, the chief operating officer now owns 291,038 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $133,705,767.58. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 13,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $465.92 per share, with a total value of $6,056,960.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 327,479 shares in the company, valued at $152,579,015.68. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

MSCI Trading Down 0.0 %

MSCI stock opened at $491.19 on Thursday. MSCI Inc. has a one year low of $439.95 and a one year high of $617.39. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $485.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $530.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.91 billion, a PE ratio of 33.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.10.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $3.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.44 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $680.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $685.47 million. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 121.86% and a net margin of 44.55%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.14 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc. will post 14.66 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th were paid a dividend of $1.60 per share. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 16th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.69%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSCI has been the topic of several research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of MSCI from $615.00 to $526.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $638.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on MSCI in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $485.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 13th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $570.53.

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.