Clearbridge Investments LLC Has $3.43 Million Holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 7,115 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC’s holdings in MSCI were worth $3,428,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of MSCI during the 1st quarter worth about $26,000. Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new position in MSCI during the second quarter worth about $26,000. HWG Holdings LP bought a new position in shares of MSCI in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new position in MSCI in the 1st quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new position in MSCI during the second quarter valued at about $40,000. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised MSCI to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of MSCI from $615.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on MSCI in a report on Wednesday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $690.00 price target on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of MSCI from $526.00 to $590.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Argus raised their price objective on MSCI from $520.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MSCI presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $598.07.

MSCI Stock Performance

NYSE MSCI opened at $589.72 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $560.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $523.10. MSCI Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $439.95 and a fifty-two week high of $617.39. The stock has a market cap of $46.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.11.

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

MSCI Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were paid a dividend of $1.60 per share. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.09%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is 43.69%.

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.