Parnassus Investments LLC Has $20.99 Million Holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Parnassus Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 27.8% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 36,002 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,830 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC’s holdings in MSCI were worth $20,987,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of MSCI by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 1,968 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,147,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Conning Inc. lifted its stake in MSCI by 4.1% during the second quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 479 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $231,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 542 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $261,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of MSCI by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 423 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $204,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp lifted its position in shares of MSCI by 35.1% during the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 77 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on MSCI shares. Argus lifted their target price on MSCI from $520.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of MSCI from $640.00 to $662.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of MSCI from $526.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $638.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $631.83.

MSCI Price Performance

MSCI stock opened at $593.12 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $46.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.94, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.11. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $584.32 and its 200 day moving average is $539.21. MSCI Inc. has a one year low of $439.95 and a one year 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, 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 analyst estimates of $716.15 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.45 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc. will post 14.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The firm 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 $1.60 dividend. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.02%.

MSCI Company 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.