Hantz Financial Services Inc. Buys New Shares in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Hantz Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 25,017 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,052,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI in the second quarter worth $65,000. iA Global Asset Management Inc. raised its position in MSCI by 98.7% during the second quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 33,252 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $16,019,000 after acquiring an additional 16,515 shares in the last quarter. Boston Financial Mangement LLC boosted its position in MSCI by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Boston Financial Mangement LLC now owns 30,544 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $14,715,000 after purchasing an additional 640 shares in the last quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV acquired a new position in shares of MSCI in the 2nd quarter valued at $213,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in MSCI by 74.9% during the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,456,194 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $701,522,000 after buying an additional 623,712 shares in the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on MSCI shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of MSCI to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $638.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Argus boosted their price objective on MSCI from $520.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on MSCI from $615.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted 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. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, MSCI presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $584.79.

MSCI Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of MSCI opened at $580.59 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $525.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $522.25. MSCI Inc. has a 12-month low of $439.95 and a 12-month high of $617.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.63, a P/E/G 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.55 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $707.90 million during 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 business’s revenue was up 14.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.26 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that MSCI Inc. will post 14.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th were given a dividend of $1.60 per share. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. MSCI’s 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.