Advisors Asset Management Inc. Has $1.98 Million Position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 66.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,401 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,357 shares during the quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in MSCI were worth $1,983,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSCI. NS Partners Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 2.1% during the third quarter. NS Partners Ltd now owns 74,721 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $43,557,000 after buying an additional 1,506 shares during the last quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 15.6% during the third quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC now owns 3,834 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,235,000 after buying an additional 516 shares during the last quarter. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of MSCI during the third quarter worth approximately $100,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 6.3% during the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 17,534 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $10,221,000 after buying an additional 1,046 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parnassus Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 27.8% during the third quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 36,002 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $20,987,000 after buying an additional 7,830 shares during the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of MSCI stock opened at $589.57 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $586.39 and its 200-day moving average is $542.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.21 billion, a PE ratio of 38.71, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 1.11. MSCI Inc. has a 52 week low of $439.95 and a 52 week high of $631.70.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The technology company reported $3.86 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.77 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $724.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $716.15 million. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 162.06% and a net margin of 43.06%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.45 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that MSCI Inc. will post 14.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.60 per share. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. MSCI’s payout ratio is presently 42.02%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on MSCI shares. UBS Group cut their price target on MSCI from $695.00 to $680.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays boosted their price objective on MSCI from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on MSCI from $570.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $638.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI initiated coverage on MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $690.00 price objective on the stock. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, MSCI has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $631.83.

MSCI Company 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.