Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Purchases New Shares in MSCI Inc $MSCI

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new stake in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 165,742 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $92,822,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake 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 worth $326,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in shares of MSCI by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,074 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $616,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. AdvisorShares Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of MSCI by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. AdvisorShares Investments LLC now owns 830 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $476,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank raised its holdings in MSCI by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,074 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $616,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Finally, Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its holdings in MSCI by 4.1% in the 4th 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 during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of MSCI stock opened at $564.39 on Thursday. MSCI Inc has a twelve month low of $501.08 and a twelve month high of $644.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.03 billion, a PE ratio of 30.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.23. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $579.99 and its 200 day moving average price is $573.07.

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

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th will be given a dividend of $2.05 per share. This represents a $8.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. MSCI’s payout ratio is presently 44.86%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSCI has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays increased their price target on MSCI from $700.00 to $735.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Weiss Ratings downgraded MSCI from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on MSCI from $700.00 to $742.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $690.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $690.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and eleven have issued a Buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MSCI presently has a consensus 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.