MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Shares Bought by Clearbridge Investments LLC

Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its position in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 0.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,086 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC’s holdings in MSCI were worth $3,971,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MSCI. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in MSCI in the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. American National Bank grew its holdings in MSCI by 1,300.0% in the fourth quarter. American National Bank now owns 70 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. First United Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in MSCI in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC grew its holdings in MSCI by 36.1% in the fourth quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC now owns 98 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the period. Finally, Quent Capital LLC grew its holdings in MSCI by 23.5% in the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 100 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the period. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at MSCI

In related news, insider Scott A. Crum sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $471.69, for a total value of $4,245,210.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 12,831 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,052,254.39. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Stock Up 0.6 %

MSCI stock traded up $3.16 during trading on Thursday, hitting $537.36. 40,202 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 587,810. MSCI Inc. has a 52 week low of $439.95 and a 52 week high of $617.39. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $494.17 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $524.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 1.10.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The technology company reported $3.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.55 by $0.09. MSCI had a net margin of 43.86% and a negative return on equity of 139.63%. The firm had revenue of $707.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $696.41 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.26 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that MSCI Inc. will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 30th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 1.19%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.69%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on MSCI shares. Bank of America upgraded shares of MSCI from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $425.00 to $525.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $485.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, May 13th. Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of MSCI from $526.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of MSCI from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, MSCI has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $589.79.

MSCI 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.