MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Shares Acquired by Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. boosted its stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 24.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,364 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 269 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in MSCI were worth $657,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSCI. Gilbert & Cook Inc. raised its stake in shares of MSCI by 17.7% during the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 672 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $380,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its holdings in MSCI by 20.8% in the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 3,838 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,171,000 after buying an additional 662 shares in the last quarter. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in MSCI in the fourth quarter valued at about $200,000. Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its position in shares of MSCI by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 99,954 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $56,539,000 after buying an additional 2,847 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its holdings in MSCI by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 7,054 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,990,000 after acquiring an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MSCI opened at $551.41 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.64, a PEG ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 1.11. MSCI Inc. has a 1-year low of $439.95 and a 1-year high of $617.39. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $548.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $521.88.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The technology company reported $3.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.55 by $0.09. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 143.09% and a net margin of 43.86%. The business had revenue of $707.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $696.41 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.26 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that MSCI Inc. will post 14.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were issued a $1.60 dividend. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. MSCI’s payout ratio is 43.69%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MSCI shares. Barclays boosted their price target on MSCI from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of MSCI from $615.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Argus increased their price objective on shares of MSCI from $520.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $638.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of MSCI from $526.00 to $590.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, MSCI presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $591.00.

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.