3,018 Shares in MSCI Inc $MSCI Purchased by AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs

AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs acquired a new position in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 3,018 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,702,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of MSCI by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,376,852 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $5,302,610,000 after purchasing an additional 518,833 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of MSCI by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,626,923 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $920,026,000 after purchasing an additional 13,918 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of MSCI by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,008,778 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $570,464,000 after purchasing an additional 19,846 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of MSCI by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 804,640 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $455,024,000 after purchasing an additional 20,150 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of MSCI by 355.7% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 660,690 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $365,976,000 after purchasing an additional 515,713 shares in the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSCI has been the topic of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of MSCI from $625.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of MSCI from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $650.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, July 25th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on MSCI from $578.00 to $533.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on MSCI from $655.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, MSCI currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $652.45.

Insider Buying and Selling at MSCI

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 9,916 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 24th. The shares were bought at an average price of $544.70 per share, for a total transaction of $5,401,245.20. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,279,867 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $697,143,554.90. This trade represents a 0.78% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In the last 90 days, insiders bought 12,400 shares of company stock valued at $6,731,599. 3.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

MSCI Trading Down 0.5%

NYSE MSCI opened at $582.77 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $563.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $559.44. The company has a market cap of $45.09 billion, a PE ratio of 38.59, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.34. MSCI Inc has a 1 year low of $486.73 and a 1 year high of $642.45.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The technology company reported $4.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.12 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $772.68 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $763.06 million. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 143.13% and a net margin of 39.46%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.64 EPS. Research analysts forecast that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th were issued a $1.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.68%.

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.