Mizuho Securities USA LLC Raises Holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 339.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,834 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 20,730 shares during the quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC's holdings in MSCI were worth $15,642,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in shares of MSCI by 0.5% in the first 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 MSCI by 2.6% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,493,534 shares of the technology company's stock worth $870,627,000 after purchasing an additional 37,340 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in MSCI by 1.3% during 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 acquiring an additional 13,620 shares during the period. PineStone Asset Management Inc. increased 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 acquiring an additional 412,389 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in 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 purchasing an additional 25,497 shares in the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on MSCI. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $638.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of MSCI from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of MSCI from $640.00 to $662.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Evercore ISI began coverage on MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They set an "outperform" rating and a $690.00 price target for the company. Finally, Redburn Atlantic raised MSCI from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $680.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $631.83.

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MSCI traded down $10.65 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $593.86. 525,037 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 546,098. MSCI Inc. has a twelve month low of $439.95 and a twelve month high of $631.70. The business's fifty day moving average price is $583.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $537.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.99, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.11.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 negative return on equity of 162.06% and a net margin of 43.06%. The company had revenue of $724.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $716.15 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.45 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that MSCI Inc. will post 14.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a dividend of $1.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.08%. MSCI's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.