Oak Thistle LLC Makes New Investment in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 2,189 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $1,055,000. MSCI accounts for approximately 0.8% of Oak Thistle LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSCI has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of MSCI from $615.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of MSCI from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $485.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, May 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on MSCI from $526.00 to $590.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Argus increased their price objective on MSCI from $520.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on MSCI from $575.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, MSCI currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $584.79.

MSCI Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of MSCI traded down $10.81 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $559.85. The company's stock had a trading volume of 429,718 shares, compared to its average volume of 565,400. The company has a 50 day moving average of $535.55 and a two-hundred day moving average of $521.92. The firm has a market cap of $44.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.22, a P/E/G ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 1.11. MSCI Inc. has a 1-year low of $439.95 and a 1-year high of $617.39.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last released its 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 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 the consensus estimate of $696.41 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.26 EPS. The company's revenue was up 14.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that MSCI Inc. will post 14.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th were given a dividend of $1.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.14%. 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.