Pier Capital LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Pier Capital LLC increased its position in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 3.4% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,294 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 75 shares during the quarter. Pier Capital LLC’s holdings in MSCI were worth $1,105,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in MSCI in the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI during the second quarter worth about $26,000. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of MSCI during the 1st quarter worth about $34,000. American National Bank lifted its stake in MSCI by 1,300.0% in the 4th quarter. American National Bank now owns 70 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new stake in MSCI in the 2nd quarter worth about $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Stock Down 0.1 %

NYSE:MSCI opened at $562.00 on Thursday. MSCI Inc. has a 52 week low of $439.95 and a 52 week high of $617.39. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $539.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $521.86. The company has a market capitalization of $44.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.36, a P/E/G ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.11.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The technology company reported $3.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.55 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $707.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $696.41 million. MSCI had a net margin of 43.86% and a negative return on equity of 143.09%. MSCI’s revenue was up 14.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.26 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc. will post 14.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were paid a dividend of $1.60 per share. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.14%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.69%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on MSCI shares. UBS Group increased their target price on MSCI from $575.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on MSCI from $615.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Argus upped their target price on shares of MSCI from $520.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $638.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of MSCI from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $584.79.

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.