MSCI Inc $MSCI Stock Position Increased by Meitav Investment House Ltd.

Meitav Investment House Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) by 43.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,453 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,645 shares during the quarter. Meitav Investment House Ltd.’s holdings in MSCI were worth $3,145,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MSCI. Olde Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in MSCI in the first quarter worth about $27,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in MSCI by 136.4% during the first quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 52 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Steph & Co. acquired a new stake in MSCI in the second quarter worth approximately $35,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. lifted its holdings 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 valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the period. Finally, Banque Transatlantique SA boosted its stake in MSCI by 355.6% during the first quarter. Banque Transatlantique SA now owns 82 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MSCI Trading Up 0.8%

NYSE:MSCI opened at $564.81 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.33. MSCI Inc has a 1 year low of $486.73 and a 1 year high of $642.45. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $563.92 and a 200-day moving average of $559.43.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The technology company reported $4.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.12 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $772.68 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.64 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th were given a dividend of $1.80 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is 47.68%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on MSCI shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of MSCI in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of MSCI from $578.00 to $533.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of MSCI from $625.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of MSCI from $655.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of MSCI to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $652.45.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 84 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $548.69 per share, for a total transaction of $46,089.96. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,279,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $702,296,314.19. The trade was a 0.01% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last 90 days, insiders have bought 12,400 shares of company stock worth $6,731,599. 3.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.