Plato Investment Management Ltd Purchases New Stake in MSCI Inc $MSCI

Plato Investment Management Ltd acquired a new position in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 3,008 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,675,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of MSCI by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC now owns 568 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $326,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in shares of MSCI by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,074 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $616,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the period. AdvisorShares Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of MSCI by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. AdvisorShares Investments LLC now owns 830 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $476,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank grew its position in MSCI by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,074 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $616,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of MSCI by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 530 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $304,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Trading Down 3.2%

MSCI stock opened at $551.17 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $585.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $574.57. The stock has a market cap of $40.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.23. MSCI Inc has a 12-month low of $501.08 and a 12-month high of $644.77.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The technology company reported $4.94 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.99 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $867.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $870.71 million. MSCI had a net margin of 40.74% and a negative return on equity of 55.19%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $4.17 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that MSCI Inc will post 19.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th will be given a $2.05 dividend. This represents a $8.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.86%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on MSCI shares. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $655.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Barclays increased their target price on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $735.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of MSCI from $715.00 to $730.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $690.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on MSCI from $700.00 to $742.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $709.50.

MSCI Profile

MSCI Inc is a global provider of investment decision support tools and services for the financial industry. The company is best known for its family of market indexes, which are widely used as benchmarks by asset managers and as the basis for exchange-traded funds and other passive products. In addition to index construction and licensing, MSCI offers portfolio analytics, risk models, factor and performance attribution tools, and a suite of data and technology solutions designed to support portfolio management and trading.

Beyond traditional indexing and risk analytics, MSCI has expanded into environmental, social and governance (ESG) research and ratings, offering data, scores and screening tools that help investors integrate sustainability considerations into investment processes.