Transcend Capital Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Transcend Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 1,027 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $495,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSCI. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI during the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI during the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000. American National Bank lifted its stake in MSCI by 1,300.0% in the 4th quarter. American National Bank now owns 70 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. First United Bank & Trust purchased a new position in MSCI in the 4th quarter valued at about $48,000. Finally, Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC lifted its stake in MSCI by 36.1% in the 4th quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC now owns 98 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSCI has been the topic of a number of research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of MSCI from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $613.00 to $569.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of MSCI from $526.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Argus raised their target price on shares of MSCI from $520.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $485.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of MSCI from $615.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MSCI currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $591.21.

MSCI Stock Down 1.5 %

NYSE:MSCI traded down $8.05 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $539.85. 635,048 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 583,697. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $499.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $524.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.85, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.10. MSCI Inc. has a 1 year low of $439.95 and a 1 year high of $617.39.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The technology company reported $3.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.55 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $707.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $696.41 million. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 143.09% and a net margin of 43.86%. The company’s revenue was up 14.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.26 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that MSCI Inc. will post 14.78 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 30th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th will be issued a dividend of $1.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 16th. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.19%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.69%.

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.