International Assets Investment Management LLC Purchases Shares of 135 MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 135 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in MSCI by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,719,381 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,886,777,000 after purchasing an additional 36,043 shares during the period. Capital International Investors increased its stake in shares of MSCI by 0.5% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,734,519 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $972,111,000 after buying an additional 9,304 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of MSCI by 74.9% during the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,456,194 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $701,522,000 after acquiring an additional 623,712 shares in the last quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP lifted its stake in MSCI by 1.8% in the first quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP now owns 1,323,058 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $741,508,000 after acquiring an additional 23,217 shares during the period. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. boosted its holdings in MSCI by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 1,038,761 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $587,575,000 after acquiring an additional 44,234 shares in the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of MSCI stock opened at $572.94 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $45.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 1.10. MSCI Inc. has a one year low of $439.95 and a one year high of $617.39. The company’s 50-day moving average is $532.31 and its 200 day moving average is $521.88.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last posted its quarterly 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. MSCI had a net margin of 43.86% and a negative return on equity of 143.09%. The firm had revenue of $707.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $696.41 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.26 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that MSCI Inc. will post 14.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were issued a $1.60 dividend. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. MSCI’s payout ratio is 43.69%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on MSCI shares. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of MSCI from $575.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $638.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Barclays upped their target price on MSCI from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Argus raised their target price on MSCI from $520.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic raised MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $485.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 13th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $584.79.

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.