Duality Advisers LP Acquires 5,202 Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Duality Advisers LP raised its position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 351.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 6,682 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,202 shares during the period. Duality Advisers LP’s holdings in MSCI were worth $3,780,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSCI. Optiver Holding B.V. purchased a new position in MSCI during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. ORG Partners LLC increased its holdings in MSCI by 5,600.0% during the third quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 57 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the period. Headinvest LLC purchased a new position in MSCI during the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in MSCI by 105.1% during the third quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 80 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. Finally, Arlington Trust Co LLC purchased a new position in MSCI during the third quarter valued at approximately $45,000. 89.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on MSCI. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of MSCI from $544.00 to $617.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $638.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of MSCI in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Raymond James reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of MSCI in a research note on Friday, January 5th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $620.00 to $470.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $581.57.

MSCI Price Performance

MSCI opened at $515.10 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $550.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $539.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.81 billion, a PE ratio of 35.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.06. MSCI Inc. has a 12-month low of $451.55 and a 12-month high of $617.39.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The technology company reported $3.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.29 by $0.39. The business had revenue of $690.11 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $662.64 million. MSCI had a net margin of 45.42% and a negative return on equity of 111.17%. The firm’s revenue was up 19.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.84 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that MSCI Inc. will post 14.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 16th were paid a $1.60 dividend. This is an increase from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.38. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.24%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.44%.

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.