O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC Purchases 870 Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 6.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 14,721 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 870 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC’s holdings in MSCI were worth $8,250,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MSCI. CX Institutional bought a new position in shares of MSCI during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $212,000. Raymond James & Associates grew its position in shares of MSCI by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 63,594 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $35,972,000 after acquiring an additional 1,664 shares during the period. CVA Family Office LLC bought a new position in shares of MSCI during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $154,000. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of MSCI by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 8,881 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $5,023,000 after acquiring an additional 406 shares during the period. Finally, Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of MSCI by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,863 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,054,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

MSCI Price Performance

NYSE MSCI traded down $12.27 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $533.74. 531,644 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 590,603. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $493.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $524.40. MSCI Inc. has a 52-week low of $439.95 and a 52-week high of $617.39. The firm has a market cap of $42.28 billion, a PE ratio of 36.35, a PEG ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 1.10.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The technology company reported $3.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.55 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $707.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $696.41 million. MSCI had a net margin of 44.55% and a negative return on equity of 121.86%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.26 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that MSCI Inc. will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 30th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th will be given a dividend of $1.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 16th. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.20%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.69%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of MSCI from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $613.00 to $569.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Bank of America upgraded shares of MSCI from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $425.00 to $525.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $638.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of MSCI from $575.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of MSCI from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, MSCI currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $589.79.

Insider Activity at MSCI

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

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.