Manning & Napier Advisors LLC Increases Stock Position in MSCI Inc $MSCI

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC boosted its position in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) by 59.1% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 11,232 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,173 shares during the period. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC’s holdings in MSCI were worth $6,054,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MSCI. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of MSCI in the first quarter valued at about $39,000. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 0.7% during the first quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV now owns 3,179 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,714,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. Impact Investors Inc bought a new stake in shares of MSCI in the first quarter worth about $204,000. R Squared Ltd grew its stake in shares of MSCI by 90.5% in the first quarter. R Squared Ltd now owns 1,429 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $770,000 after purchasing an additional 679 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meitav Investment House Ltd. increased its holdings in MSCI by 318.5% during the 1st quarter. Meitav Investment House Ltd. now owns 19,306 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $10,406,000 after purchasing an additional 14,693 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of MSCI stock traded up $0.08 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $603.43. 267,745 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 683,532. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $593.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $575.41. The company has a market cap of $43.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.24. MSCI Inc has a 12 month low of $501.08 and a 12 month high of $644.68.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The technology company reported $4.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.38 by $0.17. MSCI had a net margin of 40.74% and a negative return on equity of 65.48%. The company had revenue of $850.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $830.91 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $4.00 EPS. MSCI’s quarterly revenue was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that MSCI Inc will post 19.78 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th were issued a $2.05 dividend. This represents a $8.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is 46.83%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. UBS Group upped their price target on MSCI from $710.00 to $720.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded MSCI from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $650.00 to $700.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Weiss Ratings cut MSCI from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Barclays upped their target price on MSCI from $700.00 to $735.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on MSCI from $719.00 to $727.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and ten have given a Buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, MSCI currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $709.27.

Insider Buying and Selling at MSCI

In other news, insider Alvise J. Munari sold 10,000 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $592.04, for a total transaction of $5,920,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 23,548 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,941,357.92. This trade represents a 29.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 3.76% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Company Profile

MSCI Inc is a global provider of investment decision support tools and services for the financial industry. The company is best known for its family of market indexes, which are widely used as benchmarks by asset managers and as the basis for exchange-traded funds and other passive products. In addition to index construction and licensing, MSCI offers portfolio analytics, risk models, factor and performance attribution tools, and a suite of data and technology solutions designed to support portfolio management and trading.

Beyond traditional indexing and risk analytics, MSCI has expanded into environmental, social and governance (ESG) research and ratings, offering data, scores and screening tools that help investors integrate sustainability considerations into investment processes.