Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Takes Position in MSCI Inc $MSCI

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 858,176 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $480,613,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp lifted its stake in MSCI by 1.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,320,761 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,884,233,000 after acquiring an additional 39,450 shares during the last quarter. Bamco Inc. NY increased its stake in shares of MSCI by 15.1% during the 4th quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 2,755,747 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,581,055,000 after purchasing an additional 361,630 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in shares of MSCI by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,467,556 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,415,713,000 after purchasing an additional 52,242 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in MSCI by 13.2% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,446,291 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $829,781,000 after purchasing an additional 168,405 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in MSCI in the 4th quarter valued at about $528,560,000. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MSCI Stock Down 3.2%

MSCI stock opened at $551.17 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $585.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $574.57. The stock has a market cap of $40.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.23. MSCI Inc has a twelve month low of $501.08 and a twelve month high of $644.77.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 21st. The technology company reported $4.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.99 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $867.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $870.71 million. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 55.19% and a net margin of 40.74%.The company’s revenue was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.17 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc will post 19.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be given a $2.05 dividend. This represents a $8.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. MSCI’s payout ratio is presently 44.86%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MSCI. Raymond James Financial boosted their price target on MSCI from $730.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on MSCI from $700.00 to $742.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Barclays boosted their target price on MSCI from $700.00 to $735.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on MSCI in a research note on Friday, July 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $760.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $690.00 price target on MSCI in a report on Thursday, June 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and eleven have given a Buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, MSCI currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $709.50.

MSCI Company Profile

MSCI Inc is a global provider of investment decision support tools and services for the financial industry. The company is best known for its family of market indexes, which are widely used as benchmarks by asset managers and as the basis for exchange-traded funds and other passive products. In addition to index construction and licensing, MSCI offers portfolio analytics, risk models, factor and performance attribution tools, and a suite of data and technology solutions designed to support portfolio management and trading.

Beyond traditional indexing and risk analytics, MSCI has expanded into environmental, social and governance (ESG) research and ratings, offering data, scores and screening tools that help investors integrate sustainability considerations into investment processes.