MSCI Inc $MSCI is Bamco Inc. NY’s 6th Largest Position

Bamco Inc. NY lifted its stake in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) by 4.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,170,333 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 98,680 shares during the period. MSCI makes up 3.4% of Bamco Inc. NY’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Bamco Inc. NY owned about 2.81% of MSCI worth $1,251,718,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in MSCI in the second quarter valued at $547,348,000. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 355.7% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 660,690 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $365,976,000 after purchasing an additional 515,713 shares during the last quarter. Magellan Asset Management Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI in the 2nd quarter valued at about $175,912,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI in the 1st quarter valued at about $119,408,000. Finally, Gobi Capital LLC purchased a new position in MSCI during the 1st quarter worth approximately $115,088,000. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MSCI Stock Performance

MSCI stock opened at $550.39 on Friday. MSCI Inc has a one year low of $486.73 and a one year high of $636.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.36 billion, a PE ratio of 34.88 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a fifty day moving average of $558.16 and a 200-day moving average of $561.99.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The technology company reported $4.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.37 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $793.43 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $794.87 million. MSCI had a net margin of 40.03% and a negative return on equity of 110.94%. The business’s revenue was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.86 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 14th were paid a dividend of $1.80 per share. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 14th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is 45.63%.

MSCI declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, October 28th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the technology company to purchase up to 7.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays boosted their price objective on MSCI from $650.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of MSCI to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of MSCI from $533.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of MSCI from $655.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $710.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $651.56.

Insider Activity

In other MSCI news, General Counsel Robert J. Gutowski sold 624 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $558.42, for a total value of $348,454.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel owned 15,945 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,904,006.90. This represents a 3.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 2,290 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction on Friday, December 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $536.17 per share, with a total value of $1,227,829.30. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 335,069 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $179,653,945.73. This trade represents a 0.69% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders own 3.31% of the company’s stock.

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.