First Horizon Advisors Inc. Increases Stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,959 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 859 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc.'s holdings in MSCI were worth $11,052,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Capital International Investors boosted its position in MSCI by 0.5% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,734,519 shares of the technology company's stock worth $972,111,000 after purchasing an additional 9,304 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake 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 valued at $870,627,000 after acquiring an additional 37,340 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in MSCI by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,047,960 shares of the technology company's stock worth $504,855,000 after acquiring an additional 13,620 shares during the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in MSCI by 129.4% in the 2nd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 730,986 shares of the technology company's stock worth $352,153,000 after purchasing an additional 412,389 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in MSCI by 4.2% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 637,381 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $307,058,000 after purchasing an additional 25,497 shares during the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MSCI Trading Down 2.5 %

Shares of NYSE MSCI traded down $15.13 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $582.00. The company had a trading volume of 888,763 shares, compared to its average volume of 544,068. MSCI Inc. has a 1 year low of $439.95 and a 1 year high of $631.70. The stock has a market cap of $45.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.19, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.11. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $585.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $540.12.

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

MSCI Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 1.10%. MSCI's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.02%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley increased 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. Argus boosted 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. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $638.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded MSCI from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $680.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on MSCI from $526.00 to $590.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, 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.