MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Shares Acquired by Mizuho Securities USA LLC

Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 339.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 26,834 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 20,730 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC’s holdings in MSCI were worth $15,642,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of MSCI from $570.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $690.00 price objective on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on MSCI from $526.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $638.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on MSCI from $640.00 to $662.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MSCI has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $631.83.

MSCI Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE:MSCI opened at $593.86 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $583.62 and a 200-day moving average of $537.85. The firm has a market cap of $46.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.99, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.11. MSCI Inc. has a twelve month low of $439.95 and a twelve month high of $631.70.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued 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. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 162.06% and a net margin of 43.06%. The firm had revenue of $724.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $716.15 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.45 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that MSCI Inc. will post 14.98 EPS for the current 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. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. MSCI’s payout ratio 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.