Fred Alger Management LLC Raises Stock Position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Fred Alger Management LLC increased its position in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 69.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,037 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,399 shares during the period. Fred Alger Management LLC’s holdings in MSCI were worth $10,514,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Verition Fund Management LLC raised its position in shares of MSCI by 76.0% in the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 6,478 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,776,000 after buying an additional 2,798 shares in the last quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in MSCI by 54.3% in the 3rd quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,160 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,591,000 after acquiring an additional 2,168 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in MSCI by 57.9% in the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 39,510 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $23,032,000 after acquiring an additional 14,493 shares during the last quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. raised its holdings in shares of MSCI by 10.3% in the 3rd quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. now owns 9,702 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $5,656,000 after acquiring an additional 904 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of MSCI by 51.2% during the 3rd quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 130 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $75,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of MSCI stock opened at $608.75 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $47.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.97, a PEG ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.11. MSCI Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $439.95 and a fifty-two week high of $631.70. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $591.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $545.78.

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

MSCI Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSCI has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $638.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $680.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of MSCI from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on MSCI from $570.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on MSCI from $695.00 to $680.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.