Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. Increases Stock Position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. increased its position in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 17.6% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 61,255 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,174 shares during the quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P.’s holdings in MSCI were worth $35,708,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of MSCI by 302.6% during the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 5,306 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,974,000 after acquiring an additional 3,988 shares during the last quarter. TIAA Trust National Association bought a new stake in shares of MSCI during the 1st quarter worth $212,000. Edgestream Partners L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 455.8% in the 1st quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 5,614 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,146,000 after buying an additional 4,604 shares during the last quarter. Cynosure Group LLC bought a new position in MSCI during the first quarter valued at about $367,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in MSCI by 388.9% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 176 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $99,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on MSCI shares. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of MSCI from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on MSCI from $526.00 to $590.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Argus raised their target price on MSCI from $520.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. UBS Group dropped their price target on MSCI from $695.00 to $680.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic raised MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $680.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, MSCI has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $631.83.

MSCI Trading Down 1.8 %

MSCI stock opened at $593.86 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $583.62 and a 200-day moving average of $537.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.11. MSCI Inc. has a 12 month low of $439.95 and a 12 month high of $631.70.

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

MSCI Dividend Announcement

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

MSCI 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.