Retirement Systems of Alabama Buys 20 Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Retirement Systems of Alabama lifted its stake in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 0.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,477 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in MSCI were worth $8,420,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of MSCI in the fourth quarter worth approximately $496,541,000. PineStone Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in MSCI by 129.4% in the 2nd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 730,986 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $352,153,000 after buying an additional 412,389 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado increased its stake in MSCI by 3,600.0% in the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 253,636 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $143,469,000 after buying an additional 246,781 shares in the last quarter. Findlay Park Partners LLP purchased a new stake in MSCI in the 1st quarter worth $114,836,000. Finally, Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new stake in MSCI during the second quarter valued at about $91,748,000. 89.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MSCI Price Performance

NYSE:MSCI opened at $571.19 on Friday. 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 of $517.13 and a 200 day moving average of $522.02. The firm has a market cap of $45.25 billion, a PE ratio of 38.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.10.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $707.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $696.41 million. MSCI had a net margin of 43.86% and a negative return on equity of 143.09%. The company’s revenue was up 14.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.26 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc. will post 14.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 30th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th will be paid a dividend of $1.60 per share. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 16th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.69%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Redburn Atlantic upgraded MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $485.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, May 13th. Argus increased their price objective on shares of MSCI from $520.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $638.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of MSCI from $575.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of MSCI to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $584.79.

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.