Verition Fund Management LLC Raises Position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Verition Fund Management LLC lifted its stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 76.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,478 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 2,798 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC’s holdings in MSCI were worth $3,776,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI in the second quarter worth about $26,000. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI in the second quarter worth about $27,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI in the third quarter worth about $40,000. Planning Capital Management Corp boosted its position in shares of MSCI by 35.1% in the third 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 period. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA lifted its stake in shares of MSCI by 35.1% in the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 77 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSCI has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays boosted their price target on MSCI from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $680.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. UBS Group cut their price objective on MSCI from $695.00 to $680.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Evercore ISI started coverage on MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $690.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $638.00 price target 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 issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $631.83.

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MSCI opened at $608.06 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $592.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $548.09. The firm has a market cap of $47.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.93, a PEG ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 1.10. MSCI Inc. has a 1 year low of $439.95 and a 1 year high of $631.70.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The technology company reported $3.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.77 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $724.70 million during 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.45 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that MSCI Inc. will post 14.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were given a dividend of $1.60 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.05%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.