Huntington National Bank Purchases 43 Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Huntington National Bank increased its position in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 12.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 382 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 43 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank’s holdings in MSCI were worth $223,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in MSCI by 74.9% during the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,456,194 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $701,522,000 after acquiring an additional 623,712 shares during the period. PineStone Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in MSCI by 129.4% during the 2nd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 730,986 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $352,153,000 after purchasing an additional 412,389 shares during the period. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in MSCI in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $91,748,000. Swedbank AB bought a new position in MSCI in the 1st quarter worth approximately $75,957,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 358.3% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 133,636 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $77,900,000 after buying an additional 104,474 shares during the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MSCI opened at $593.86 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $583.62 and its 200-day moving average is $538.33. MSCI Inc. has a 52 week low of $439.95 and a 52 week high of $631.70. The company has a market capitalization of $46.54 billion, a PE ratio of 38.99, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.11.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The technology company reported $3.86 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.77 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $724.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $716.15 million. MSCI had a net margin of 43.06% and a negative return on equity of 162.06%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.45 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that MSCI Inc. will post 14.98 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a $1.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.08%. MSCI’s payout ratio is 42.02%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MSCI. Evercore ISI started coverage on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $690.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $638.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $680.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. UBS Group decreased their target price on MSCI from $695.00 to $680.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on MSCI from $526.00 to $590.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MSCI presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $631.83.

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.