MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Stock Holdings Lifted by Exchange Traded Concepts LLC

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 23.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 941 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 179 shares during the quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC’s holdings in MSCI were worth $549,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of MSCI in the 1st quarter worth about $26,000. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new stake in MSCI in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. HWG Holdings LP bought a new stake in MSCI in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new stake in MSCI in the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new stake in MSCI in the 2nd quarter valued at about $40,000. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

MSCI Price Performance

MSCI stock opened at $608.02 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $574.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $526.56. The company has a market cap of $48.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.11. MSCI Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $439.95 and a fifty-two week high of $617.39.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The technology company reported $3.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.55 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $707.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $696.41 million. MSCI had a net margin of 43.86% and a negative return on equity of 143.09%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.26 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that MSCI Inc. will post 14.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th were issued a dividend of $1.60 per share. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.69%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on MSCI shares. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of MSCI from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Evercore ISI started coverage on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $690.00 price objective on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted 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. Argus raised their target price on shares of MSCI from $520.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of MSCI from $615.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MSCI currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $615.23.

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.