Entropy Technologies LP Acquires 1,602 Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Entropy Technologies LP increased its holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 50.3% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,790 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,602 shares during the period. Entropy Technologies LP’s holdings in MSCI were worth $2,792,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of MSCI by 0.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,719,381 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,886,777,000 after purchasing an additional 36,043 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in shares of MSCI by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,734,519 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $972,111,000 after buying an additional 9,304 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of MSCI by 2.6% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,493,534 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $870,627,000 after acquiring an additional 37,340 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in MSCI by 1.3% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,047,960 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $504,855,000 after acquiring an additional 13,620 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PineStone Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in MSCI by 129.4% in the second quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 730,986 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $352,153,000 after acquiring an additional 412,389 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of MSCI opened at $596.94 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.78 billion, a PE ratio of 39.20, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.11. The company’s fifty day moving average is $580.58 and its 200 day moving average is $533.71. MSCI Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $439.95 and a fifty-two week high of $631.70.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 43.06% and a negative return on equity of 162.06%. The company had revenue of $724.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $716.15 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.45 earnings per share. MSCI’s quarterly revenue was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that MSCI Inc. will post 14.98 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a $1.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.07%. MSCI’s payout ratio is 42.02%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MSCI. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $680.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Evercore ISI started coverage on MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $690.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group lowered their target price on MSCI from $695.00 to $680.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Argus upped their price target on MSCI from $520.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of MSCI from $640.00 to $662.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $631.83.

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.