Kestra Investment Management LLC Acquires New Holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 667 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $389,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in shares of MSCI in the third quarter worth $5,699,000. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new position in MSCI in the third quarter worth about $38,000. Kolinsky Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of MSCI during the 3rd quarter valued at about $204,000. Point72 Europe London LLP purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI during the 3rd quarter valued at about $4,955,000. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec bought a new position in shares of MSCI in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $5,713,000. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MSCI Price Performance

Shares of MSCI opened at $608.97 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $47.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 1.10. MSCI Inc. has a 1 year low of $439.95 and a 1 year high of $631.70. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $592.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $547.37.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced 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 net margin of 43.06% and a negative return on equity of 162.06%. The company had revenue of $724.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $716.15 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.45 EPS. MSCI’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc. will post 14.98 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were given a $1.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.05%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.02%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on MSCI shares. 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 report on Friday, October 11th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on MSCI from $695.00 to $680.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on MSCI from $640.00 to $662.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $690.00 price target for the company. Finally, Redburn Atlantic raised MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $680.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. 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, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.