Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ Grows Stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ increased its position in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 7.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 69,948 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,101 shares during the quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ’s holdings in MSCI were worth $33,697,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in MSCI by 9.7% in the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 239,933 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $134,475,000 after acquiring an additional 21,310 shares during the last quarter. Evoke Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of MSCI by 18.4% during the 4th quarter. Evoke Wealth LLC now owns 13,720 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $7,761,000 after buying an additional 2,135 shares in the last quarter. Grayhawk Investment Strategies Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI during the 4th quarter worth $959,000. Nomura Holdings Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $904,000. Finally, Brevan Howard Capital Management LP acquired a new position in MSCI during the fourth quarter worth $2,755,000. 89.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSCI has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays upped their target price on MSCI from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of MSCI from $526.00 to $590.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $638.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Argus increased their price target on MSCI from $520.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, 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 report on Wednesday, July 24th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $591.00.

MSCI Price Performance

Shares of MSCI stock opened at $555.31 on Friday. MSCI Inc. has a one year low of $439.95 and a one year high of $617.39. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $547.99 and its 200-day moving average is $521.93. The firm has a market cap of $43.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.91, 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.55 by $0.09. MSCI had a net margin of 43.86% and a negative return on equity of 143.09%. The business had revenue of $707.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $696.41 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.26 EPS. MSCI’s revenue was up 14.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that MSCI Inc. will post 14.79 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th were issued a dividend of $1.60 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.15%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.69%.

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.