Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC Invests $255,000 in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 451 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $255,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Impax Asset Management Group plc lifted its stake in shares of MSCI by 803.9% in the 4th quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 587,978 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $331,906,000 after acquiring an additional 522,926 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of MSCI by 59.6% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 762,080 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $391,008,000 after acquiring an additional 284,513 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of MSCI by 32.5% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 959,894 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $492,502,000 after acquiring an additional 235,290 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of MSCI by 468.7% in the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 244,267 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $125,329,000 after acquiring an additional 201,317 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of MSCI by 14.0% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,460,634 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $749,422,000 after acquiring an additional 179,508 shares during the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MSCI opened at $464.81 on Thursday. MSCI Inc. has a 52-week low of $439.95 and a 52-week high of $617.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.06. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $545.76 and a 200-day moving average price of $538.56.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $3.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.44 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $680.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $685.47 million. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 111.33% and a net margin of 44.55%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.14 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that MSCI Inc. will post 14.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid a $1.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.38%. MSCI’s payout ratio is currently 43.69%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSCI has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on MSCI from $615.00 to $526.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays lowered their target price on MSCI from $700.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Wolfe Research began coverage on MSCI in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. StockNews.com lowered MSCI from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic lowered MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $620.00 to $470.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $562.87.

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.