Squarepoint Ops LLC Acquires 6,292 Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Squarepoint Ops LLC lifted its holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 10.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 68,230 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,292 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC owned 0.09% of MSCI worth $32,870,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp lifted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 60.7% in the 2nd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 15,173 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $7,310,000 after acquiring an additional 5,730 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in shares of MSCI in the 2nd quarter valued at about $870,000. Xponance Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 29.6% in the 2nd quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 21,384 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $10,302,000 after acquiring an additional 4,890 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 18.7% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 124,701 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $61,103,000 after acquiring an additional 19,611 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its position in MSCI by 7.9% in the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 13,389 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $6,450,000 after purchasing an additional 981 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group increased their price objective 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. Argus increased their price objective on shares of MSCI from $520.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of MSCI to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of MSCI from $615.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of MSCI from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $591.00.

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MSCI opened at $562.37 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $44.23 billion, a PE ratio of 38.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.11. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $551.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $521.62. MSCI Inc. has a one year low of $439.95 and a one year high of $617.39.

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 company 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.26 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that MSCI Inc. will post 14.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

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