Lake Street Advisors Group LLC Acquires Shares of 438 MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Lake Street Advisors Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 438 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $245,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in MSCI by 9.7% in the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 239,933 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $134,475,000 after buying an additional 21,310 shares during the period. Evoke Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in MSCI by 18.4% in the fourth quarter. Evoke Wealth LLC now owns 13,720 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $7,761,000 after purchasing an additional 2,135 shares during the period. Grayhawk Investment Strategies Inc. acquired a new position in MSCI during the 4th quarter valued at about $959,000. Nomura Holdings Inc. bought a new stake in shares of MSCI during the 4th quarter worth about $904,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of MSCI by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 819,422 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $463,506,000 after acquiring an additional 57,342 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Price Performance

NYSE:MSCI traded up $9.46 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $543.66. The stock had a trading volume of 206,691 shares, compared to its average volume of 588,772. The stock has a market cap of $43.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.68, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 1.10. The business’s 50 day moving average is $494.17 and its 200 day moving average is $524.47. MSCI Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $439.95 and a fifty-two week high of $617.39.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The technology company reported $3.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.55 by $0.09. MSCI had a net margin of 43.86% and a negative return on equity of 139.63%. The firm had revenue of $707.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $696.41 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.26 earnings per share. MSCI’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that MSCI Inc. will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 30th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th will be issued a $1.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 16th. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.18%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.69%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSCI has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Redburn Atlantic upgraded MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $485.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, May 13th. Bank of America upgraded shares of MSCI from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $425.00 to $525.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of MSCI from $526.00 to $590.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of MSCI from $615.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, MSCI presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $589.79.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Scott A. Crum sold 9,000 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $471.69, for a total value of $4,245,210.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 12,831 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,052,254.39. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 3.20% 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.