Guggenheim Capital LLC Purchases 452 Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Guggenheim Capital LLC lifted its position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 20.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,711 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 452 shares during the quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC’s holdings in MSCI were worth $1,517,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in MSCI. RB Capital Management LLC lifted its position in MSCI by 16.5% during the 1st quarter. RB Capital Management LLC now owns 1,276 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $642,000 after buying an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. Markel Corp lifted its position in MSCI by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Markel Corp now owns 141,700 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $71,258,000 after buying an additional 4,700 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its position in MSCI by 42.2% during the 1st quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 1,237 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $622,000 after buying an additional 367 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. lifted its position in MSCI by 6.0% during the 1st quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 1,831 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $921,000 after buying an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prudential PLC acquired a new position in MSCI during the 1st quarter worth about $701,000. Institutional investors own 88.61% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MSCI. Barclays upped their price target on shares of MSCI from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 25th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of MSCI from $600.00 to $545.00 in a research report on Monday, July 10th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of MSCI in a research report on Thursday, June 15th. They set an “underperform” rating on the stock. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of MSCI in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of MSCI from $570.00 to $640.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $565.83.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, General Counsel Robert J. Gutowski sold 1,478 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $520.00, for a total transaction of $768,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 15,179 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,893,080. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Scott A. Crum sold 1,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $555.89, for a total transaction of $1,000,602.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 18,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,158,333.86. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Robert J. Gutowski sold 1,478 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $520.00, for a total transaction of $768,560.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 15,179 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,893,080. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.08% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

MSCI Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MSCI opened at $541.39 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $42.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 1.13. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $517.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $511.09. MSCI Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $385.00 and a fifty-two week high of $572.50.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 25th. The technology company reported $3.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.11 by $0.15. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 93.06% and a net margin of 39.02%. The business had revenue of $621.16 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $602.47 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.78 EPS. MSCI’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that MSCI Inc. will post 13.12 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 31st. Investors of record on Friday, August 11th were paid a dividend of $1.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 10th. This represents a $5.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.02%. MSCI’s payout ratio is 48.38%.

MSCI Profile

MSCI Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides investment decision support tools for the clients to manage their investment processes worldwide. It operates through four segments: Index, Analytics, ESG and Climate, and All Other Private Assets. The Index segment provides indexes for use in various areas of the investment process, including indexed product creation, such as ETFs, mutual funds, annuities, futures, options, structured products, over-the-counter derivatives; performance benchmarking; portfolio construction and rebalancing; and asset allocation, as well as licenses GICS and GICS Direct.