Edgewood Management LLC Grows Position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Edgewood Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 16.9% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 2,195,639 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 318,214 shares during the period. MSCI comprises 3.5% of Edgewood Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Edgewood Management LLC’s holdings in MSCI were worth $1,279,904,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in MSCI by 14.3% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,587,723 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $925,531,000 after purchasing an additional 198,666 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of MSCI by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,493,534 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $870,627,000 after buying an additional 37,340 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in MSCI by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,047,960 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $504,855,000 after acquiring an additional 13,620 shares in the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in MSCI by 129.4% during the 2nd 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. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in MSCI by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 637,381 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $307,058,000 after acquiring an additional 25,497 shares in the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MSCI Stock Down 0.1 %

MSCI opened at $581.34 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $45.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.11. MSCI Inc. has a 52 week low of $439.95 and a 52 week high of $631.70. The business’s 50 day moving average is $585.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $540.70.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its 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 business had revenue of $724.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $716.15 million. MSCI had a net margin of 43.06% and a negative return on equity of 162.06%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.45 EPS. Equities analysts expect that MSCI Inc. will post 14.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued 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 dividend yield of 1.10%. MSCI’s payout ratio is 42.02%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on MSCI shares. Argus lifted their price objective on shares of MSCI from $520.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target 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. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on MSCI in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $690.00 target price for the company. Barclays upped their price target on MSCI from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, UBS Group decreased 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. Seven investment 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, MSCI presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.