EFG Asset Management Americas Corp. Acquires 8,417 Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

EFG Asset Management Americas Corp. lifted its position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 223.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 12,186 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 8,417 shares during the quarter. EFG Asset Management Americas Corp.'s holdings in MSCI were worth $5,871,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MSCI. Gilbert & Cook Inc. raised its position in MSCI by 17.7% in the 4th quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 672 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $380,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. acquired a new position in MSCI during the 4th quarter worth about $120,000. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its position in MSCI by 16.0% during the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 1,065 shares of the technology company's stock worth $603,000 after buying an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. grew its holdings in MSCI by 220.1% during the 4th quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 509 shares of the technology company's stock worth $288,000 after acquiring an additional 350 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in MSCI in the 4th quarter valued at about $478,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSCI has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays upped their target price on shares of MSCI from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised MSCI to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on MSCI from $575.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of MSCI from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $485.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of MSCI from $615.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Eight investment 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 an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $584.79.

MSCI Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE MSCI traded down $10.81 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $559.85. 429,718 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 565,400. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $535.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $521.92. MSCI Inc. has a twelve month low of $439.95 and a twelve month high of $617.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.22, a PEG ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 1.11.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The technology company reported $3.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.55 by $0.09. MSCI had a net margin of 43.86% and a negative return on equity of 143.09%. The company had revenue of $707.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $696.41 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.26 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 14.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that MSCI Inc. will post 14.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th were issued a $1.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.14%. MSCI's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.69%.

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.