MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Shares Bought by First Horizon Advisors Inc.

First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 4.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 18,959 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 859 shares during the quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc.’s holdings in MSCI were worth $11,052,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSCI. Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new position in shares of MSCI during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new position in MSCI in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in MSCI during the 1st quarter worth $34,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI during the second quarter worth $40,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI in the third quarter valued at about $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:MSCI opened at $596.93 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $46.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.19, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.11. MSCI Inc. has a 12-month low of $439.95 and a 12-month high of $631.70. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $585.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $540.12.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The technology company reported $3.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.77 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $724.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $716.15 million. MSCI had a net margin of 43.06% and a negative return on equity of 162.06%. MSCI’s revenue was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.45 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that MSCI Inc. will post 14.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a $1.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.07%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.02%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of MSCI from $695.00 to $680.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on MSCI from $526.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on MSCI from $570.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $680.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Argus upped their target price on MSCI from $520.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $631.83.

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.