Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. Acquires 26 Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its holdings in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 4.8% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 566 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc.’s holdings in MSCI were worth $330,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in MSCI by 0.4% in 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 buying an additional 36,043 shares during the period. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in MSCI by 0.5% in the 1st 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. increased its holdings in MSCI by 74.9% in the 2nd 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 during the period. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP increased its holdings in MSCI by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP now owns 1,323,058 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $741,508,000 after buying an additional 23,217 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in MSCI by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,047,960 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $504,855,000 after buying an additional 13,620 shares during the period. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSCI has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of MSCI from $575.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $638.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of MSCI from $526.00 to $590.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of MSCI from $615.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $690.00 price target on the stock. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $615.23.

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MSCI opened at $604.08 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $47.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.11. MSCI Inc. has a 52-week low of $439.95 and a 52-week high of $617.39. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $576.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $527.29.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The technology company reported $3.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.55 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $707.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $696.41 million. MSCI had a net margin of 43.86% and a negative return on equity of 143.09%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.26 EPS. Analysts forecast that MSCI Inc. will post 14.8 earnings per share for the current year.

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.