Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Increases Position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 176,205 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 4,935 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned 0.22% of MSCI worth $102,715,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of MSCI by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,719,381 shares of the technology company's stock worth $4,886,777,000 after buying an additional 36,043 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its stake in shares of MSCI by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,734,519 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $972,111,000 after purchasing an additional 9,304 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of MSCI by 2.6% during 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 purchasing an additional 37,340 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of MSCI by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,047,960 shares of the technology company's stock worth $504,855,000 after purchasing an additional 13,620 shares during the period. Finally, PineStone Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 129.4% in 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on MSCI. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $690.00 price target on the stock. Barclays raised their target price on MSCI from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on MSCI from $526.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on MSCI from $640.00 to $662.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $638.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $631.83.

MSCI Stock Down 0.1 %

NYSE MSCI traded down $0.64 during trading on Thursday, hitting $609.89. 175,595 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 541,651. The company has a market capitalization of $47.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.11. MSCI Inc. has a 12-month low of $439.95 and a 12-month high of $631.70. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $582.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $536.05.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The technology company reported $3.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.77 by $0.09. MSCI had a net margin of 43.06% and a negative return on equity of 162.06%. The company had revenue of $724.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $716.15 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.45 earnings per share. MSCI's quarterly revenue was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that MSCI Inc. will post 14.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.60 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.05%. MSCI's payout ratio is currently 42.02%.

MSCI Company Profile

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.