The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Has $29.80 Million Holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 51,116 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in MSCI were worth $29,797,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MSCI. Qsemble Capital Management LP bought a new stake in MSCI in the 3rd quarter valued at $210,000. Bank of Montreal Can increased its stake in MSCI by 6.0% in the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 132,222 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $76,180,000 after acquiring an additional 7,521 shares during the period. Bowie Capital Management LLC raised its position in MSCI by 4.8% in the third quarter. Bowie Capital Management LLC now owns 168,357 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $98,140,000 after purchasing an additional 7,655 shares in the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA lifted its stake in MSCI by 35.1% during the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 77 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its holdings in MSCI by 15.1% during the third quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 701 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $409,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MSCI Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE MSCI opened at $608.75 on Friday. MSCI Inc. has a 1 year low of $439.95 and a 1 year high of $631.70. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $591.03 and its 200-day moving average is $545.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.71 billion, a PE ratio of 39.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.11.

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. The firm had revenue of $724.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $716.15 million. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 162.06% and a net margin of 43.06%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.45 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate 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 was paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were given a $1.60 dividend. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.02%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on MSCI shares. UBS Group dropped their target price on MSCI from $695.00 to $680.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on MSCI from $640.00 to $662.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of MSCI from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of MSCI from $570.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $638.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus 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.