MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Shares Purchased by Americana Partners LLC

Americana Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 71.5% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,567 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,070 shares during the quarter. Americana Partners LLC’s holdings in MSCI were worth $1,496,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new position in MSCI during the second quarter worth $26,000. HWG Holdings LP acquired a new position in MSCI during the second quarter worth $27,000. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new position in MSCI during the first quarter worth $34,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new position in MSCI during the second quarter worth $40,000. Finally, American National Bank & Trust acquired a new position in MSCI during the third quarter worth $58,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on MSCI shares. Argus upped their price target on MSCI from $520.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Evercore ISI started coverage on MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $690.00 price target on the stock. 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 research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on MSCI from $570.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on MSCI from $640.00 to $662.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $631.83.

MSCI Stock Performance

NYSE:MSCI opened at $577.95 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $580.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of $530.08. The stock has a market cap of $45.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 1.11. MSCI Inc. has a 1 year low of $439.95 and a 1 year high of $631.70.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The technology company reported $3.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.77 by $0.09. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 162.06% and a net margin of 43.06%. The company had revenue of $724.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $716.15 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.45 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that MSCI Inc. will post 14.94 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.60 per share. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.11%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.02%.

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.