Diversify Advisory Services LLC Has $650,000 Stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Diversify Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 40.7% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,075 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 311 shares during the period. Diversify Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in MSCI were worth $650,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new position in MSCI during the second quarter worth $26,000. HWG Holdings LP acquired a new position in MSCI during the second quarter worth $27,000. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new position in MSCI during the first quarter worth $34,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new position in MSCI during the second quarter worth $40,000. Finally, American National Bank & Trust acquired a new position in MSCI during the third quarter worth $58,000. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MSCI Stock Down 1.7 %

MSCI opened at $569.35 on Thursday. MSCI Inc. has a twelve month low of $439.95 and a twelve month high of $631.70. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $579.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $529.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.13, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.11.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The technology company reported $3.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.77 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 $724.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $716.15 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.45 earnings per share. MSCI’s revenue was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc. will post 14.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.60 per share. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.12%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. MSCI’s payout ratio is 42.87%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $690.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $638.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of MSCI from $526.00 to $590.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of MSCI from $570.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of MSCI from $640.00 to $662.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MSCI has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $624.23.

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.