Clearbridge Investments LLC Grows Position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 0.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,086 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying 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 reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MSCI. Seven Eight Capital LP boosted its position in MSCI by 52.9% in the first quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP now owns 1,159 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $650,000 after purchasing an additional 401 shares during the last quarter. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc boosted its position in MSCI by 1,677.6% in the first quarter. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc now owns 13,012 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $7,292,000 after purchasing an additional 12,280 shares during the last quarter. Texas Capital Bancshares Inc TX bought a new position in shares of MSCI in the first quarter worth about $857,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of MSCI by 6.3% in the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 14,721 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $8,250,000 after buying an additional 870 shares during the period. Finally, Covestor Ltd raised its stake in shares of MSCI by 388.9% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 176 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $99,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the period. 89.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at MSCI

In other news, insider Scott A. Crum sold 9,000 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 30th. The stock was 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Stock Performance

NYSE:MSCI traded up $3.16 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $537.36. The stock had a trading volume of 40,202 shares, 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 company has a 50 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 PE ratio of 36.46, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 1.10.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The technology company reported $3.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.55 by $0.09. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 139.63% and a net margin of 43.86%. The business had revenue of $707.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $696.41 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.26 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 14.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that MSCI Inc. will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th will be issued a $1.60 dividend. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 16th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.69%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on MSCI shares. Bank of America raised MSCI from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $425.00 to $525.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Redburn Atlantic raised MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $485.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 13th. Barclays raised their price objective on MSCI from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on MSCI from $615.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.