MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Shares Purchased by Burney Co.

Burney Co. lifted its position in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 2.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 961 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 25 shares during the quarter. Burney Co.’s holdings in MSCI were worth $463,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MSCI. Legacy Advisors LLC boosted its position in MSCI by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Legacy Advisors LLC now owns 664 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $376,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Conning Inc. grew its position in shares of MSCI by 4.1% in the second quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 479 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $231,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the period. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in MSCI by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,080 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,177,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its stake in MSCI by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 542 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $261,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI boosted its stake in MSCI by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 618 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $298,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MSCI. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $485.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, May 13th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of MSCI from $575.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on MSCI from $615.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $638.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on MSCI from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $584.79.

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MSCI traded up $2.29 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $582.44. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 271,855 shares, compared to its average volume of 571,137. MSCI Inc. has a 1-year low of $439.95 and a 1-year high of $617.39. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $523.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $521.83. The firm has a market cap of $46.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.60, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.10.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The technology company reported $3.64 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.55 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $707.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $696.41 million. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 143.09% and a net margin of 43.86%. MSCI’s quarterly revenue was up 14.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.26 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that MSCI Inc. will post 14.78 earnings per share 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 issued a dividend of $1.60 per share. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.10%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 16th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.69%.

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.