Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Acquires New Shares in MSCI Inc $MSCI

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 858,176 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $480,613,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned 1.18% of MSCI at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSCI. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of MSCI by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,320,761 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,884,233,000 after purchasing an additional 39,450 shares during the period. Bamco Inc. NY raised its holdings in MSCI by 15.1% during the 4th quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 2,755,747 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,581,055,000 after buying an additional 361,630 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in MSCI by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,467,556 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,415,713,000 after buying an additional 52,242 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in MSCI by 13.2% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,446,291 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $829,781,000 after buying an additional 168,405 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of MSCI in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $528,560,000. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

MSCI Trading Down 3.2%

Shares of MSCI opened at $551.17 on Tuesday. MSCI Inc has a 12 month low of $501.08 and a 12 month high of $644.77. The firm 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 capitalization of $40.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.15, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.23.

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

MSCI Dividend Announcement

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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $8.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. MSCI’s payout ratio is currently 44.86%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $655.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price 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. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $700.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on MSCI in a research note on Friday, July 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $760.00 price target on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on MSCI from $700.00 to $742.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MSCI presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $709.50.

About MSCI

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.