Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV Has $1.25 Million Holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 12.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,669 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 291 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV’s holdings in MSCI were worth $1,246,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of MSCI by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,719,381 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $4,886,777,000 after buying an additional 36,043 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its position in MSCI by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,734,519 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $972,111,000 after acquiring an additional 9,304 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in MSCI by 74.9% during the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,456,194 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $701,522,000 after acquiring an additional 623,712 shares during the last quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP grew its position in MSCI by 1.8% during the 1st 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 last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in MSCI by 1.3% during the 2nd 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 during the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on MSCI shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on MSCI from $615.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on MSCI from $526.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Barclays increased their price target on MSCI from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $638.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on MSCI from $575.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $591.00.

MSCI Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MSCI opened at $560.75 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $551.21 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $521.62. The company has a market cap of $44.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.28, a PEG ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 1.11. MSCI Inc. has a one year low of $439.95 and a one year high of $617.39.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The technology company reported $3.64 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $707.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $696.41 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.26 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 14.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that MSCI Inc. will post 14.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th were paid a dividend of $1.60 per share. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. MSCI’s payout ratio is currently 43.69%.

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.