Valley Wealth Managers Inc. Buys New Stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Valley Wealth Managers Inc. purchased a new position in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 799 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $466,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MSCI. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in MSCI by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 1,471 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $857,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC increased its position in MSCI by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 2,719 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,585,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Intellectus Partners LLC lifted its holdings in MSCI by 53.2% in the third quarter. Intellectus Partners LLC now owns 1,590 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $927,000 after acquiring an additional 552 shares during the period. ING Groep NV purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI during the 3rd quarter worth $2,311,000. Finally, Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of MSCI by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 49,456 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $28,829,000 after acquiring an additional 496 shares during the period. 89.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MSCI Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE MSCI opened at $593.60 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.52 billion, a PE ratio of 38.98, a P/E/G ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 1.11. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $583.62 and a 200-day moving average of $537.35. MSCI Inc. has a 52-week low of $439.95 and a 52-week high of $631.70.

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

MSCI Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a dividend of $1.60 per share. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.02%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on MSCI from $526.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $680.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $638.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays upped their target price on MSCI from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI assumed coverage on MSCI in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $690.00 price target for the company. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, MSCI currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.