MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Shares Acquired by Xponance Inc.

Xponance Inc. boosted its holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 29.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 21,384 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,890 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in MSCI were worth $10,302,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 0.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,719,381 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,886,777,000 after acquiring an additional 36,043 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 0.5% in 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. boosted its stake in 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 buying an additional 623,712 shares in the last quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP grew its holdings in MSCI by 1.8% during 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, American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in MSCI by 1.3% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,047,960 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $504,855,000 after acquiring an additional 13,620 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MSCI. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of MSCI from $575.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on MSCI from $526.00 to $590.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Barclays lifted their target price on MSCI from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on MSCI from $615.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Argus lifted their price target on MSCI from $520.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, MSCI presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $591.00.

MSCI Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE:MSCI opened at $560.16 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $550.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $521.56. MSCI Inc. has a 12-month low of $439.95 and a 12-month high of $617.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 1.11.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its 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 negative return on equity of 143.09% and a net margin of 43.86%. The firm 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 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that MSCI Inc. will post 14.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were paid a $1.60 dividend. 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 presently 43.69%.

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.