MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Stake Increased by Mizuho Securities USA LLC

Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 339.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,834 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 20,730 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC’s holdings in MSCI were worth $15,642,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new position in shares of MSCI in the second quarter worth $26,000. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI during the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI during the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of MSCI in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in MSCI in the third quarter worth approximately $40,000. 89.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on MSCI. Morgan Stanley increased 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 began coverage on MSCI in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $690.00 target price on the stock. Redburn Atlantic upgraded MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $680.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Argus boosted their target price on MSCI from $520.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on MSCI from $526.00 to $590.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MSCI has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $631.83.

MSCI Price Performance

Shares of MSCI stock opened at $593.86 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $46.54 billion, a PE ratio of 38.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.11. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $583.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $537.85. MSCI Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $439.95 and a fifty-two week high of $631.70.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The technology company reported $3.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $724.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $716.15 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.45 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that MSCI Inc. will post 14.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a dividend of $1.60 per share. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.08%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.