7,110 Shares in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Acquired by Yacktman Asset Management LP

Yacktman Asset Management LP purchased a new position in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 7,110 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $3,425,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MSCI. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in MSCI in the first quarter worth about $26,000. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new stake in MSCI during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new position in MSCI during the first quarter valued at approximately $34,000. American National Bank boosted its position in shares of MSCI by 1,300.0% in the fourth quarter. American National Bank now owns 70 shares of the technology company's stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of MSCI in the second quarter worth approximately $40,000. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSCI has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of MSCI from $615.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Argus upped their price objective on MSCI from $520.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. UBS Group lifted their target price on MSCI from $575.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Barclays upped their price target on MSCI from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of MSCI from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $485.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 13th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $584.79.

MSCI Stock Performance

MSCI stock traded down $2.28 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $570.66. 362,325 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 566,286. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.11, a P/E/G ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 1.11. The business has a 50 day moving average of $532.31 and a 200-day moving average of $521.88. MSCI Inc. has a 52-week low of $439.95 and a 52-week high of $617.39.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The technology company reported $3.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.55 by $0.09. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 143.09% and a net margin of 43.86%. The company had revenue of $707.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $696.41 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.26 earnings per share. MSCI's revenue was up 14.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc. will post 14.79 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th were issued a dividend of $1.60 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.12%. MSCI's payout ratio is 43.69%.

MSCI 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.