Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Purchases 5,007 Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 1.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 484,011 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 5,007 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 0.62% of MSCI worth $282,145,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in MSCI by 14.3% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,587,723 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $925,531,000 after purchasing an additional 198,666 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of MSCI by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,493,534 shares of the technology company's stock worth $870,627,000 after acquiring an additional 37,340 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of MSCI by 1.3% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,047,960 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $504,855,000 after purchasing an additional 13,620 shares in the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in MSCI by 129.4% during the second quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 730,986 shares of the technology company's stock worth $352,153,000 after buying an additional 412,389 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 637,381 shares of the technology company's stock worth $307,058,000 after acquiring an additional 25,497 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on MSCI shares. Argus raised their price target on shares of MSCI from $520.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on MSCI from $640.00 to $662.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of MSCI from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of MSCI from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $680.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They set an "outperform" rating and a $690.00 price objective for the company. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $631.83.

MSCI Trading Up 1.4 %

MSCI stock traded up $8.23 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $589.57. The stock had a trading volume of 437,014 shares, compared to its average volume of 630,993. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $586.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $541.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.21 billion, a PE ratio of 38.71, a P/E/G ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 1.11. MSCI Inc. has a 12 month low of $439.95 and a 12 month high of $631.70.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The technology company reported $3.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.77 by $0.09. The company 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.45 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that MSCI Inc. will post 14.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a $1.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.09%. MSCI's dividend payout ratio is presently 42.02%.

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.