Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 526.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 27,245 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 22,897 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in MSCI were worth $13,125,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wrapmanager Inc. purchased a new position in shares of MSCI during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $717,000. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. lifted its holdings in MSCI by 28.1% in the 2nd quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 1,855 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $894,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares in the last quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. lifted its holdings in MSCI by 22.2% in the 2nd quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. now owns 1,951 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $940,000 after purchasing an additional 354 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in MSCI by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,047,960 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $504,855,000 after purchasing an additional 13,620 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pier Capital LLC lifted its holdings in MSCI by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Pier Capital LLC now owns 2,294 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,105,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company's stock.

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of MSCI traded up $2.18 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $561.93. The company had a trading volume of 390,533 shares, compared to its average volume of 561,524. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $542.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $521.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.36, a P/E/G ratio of 3.06 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 posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The technology company reported $3.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.55 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $707.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $696.41 million. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 143.09% and a net margin of 43.86%. The firm's revenue was up 14.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.26 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that MSCI Inc. will post 14.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MSCI. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on MSCI from $615.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on MSCI from $526.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. UBS Group lifted their price target on MSCI from $575.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $638.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised MSCI to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Seven 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, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $591.00.

About MSCI

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.