Montanaro Asset Management Ltd Boosts Stock Position in MSCI Inc $MSCI

Montanaro Asset Management Ltd raised its position in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) by 6.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 12,750 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 750 shares during the quarter. MSCI accounts for 1.9% of Montanaro Asset Management Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position. Montanaro Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in MSCI were worth $7,353,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Olde Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI in the first quarter worth about $27,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of MSCI by 136.4% in the first quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 52 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Steph & Co. purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI in the second quarter worth about $35,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of MSCI by 50.0% in the first quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 66 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Banque Transatlantique SA boosted its stake in shares of MSCI by 355.6% in the first quarter. Banque Transatlantique SA now owns 82 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on MSCI shares. Weiss Ratings downgraded MSCI from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 25th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on MSCI from $533.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. UBS Group upped their target price on MSCI from $700.00 to $710.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Evercore ISI increased their price target on MSCI from $588.00 to $611.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on MSCI from $650.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, MSCI currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $655.90.

MSCI Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of MSCI stock opened at $588.17 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $45.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 1.33. The business’s 50 day moving average is $561.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $560.55. MSCI Inc has a 12-month low of $486.73 and a 12-month high of $642.45.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The technology company reported $4.47 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.37 by $0.10. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 110.94% and a net margin of 40.03%.The business had revenue of $793.43 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $794.87 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.86 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, October 28th that permits the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the technology company to buy up to 7.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 14th. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.63%.

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.