Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. Buys 18,080 Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 24.3% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 92,616 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 18,080 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P.’s holdings in MSCI were worth $51,907,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Stifel Financial Corp increased its position in MSCI by 19.5% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 14,410 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $7,402,000 after purchasing an additional 2,350 shares during the last quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of MSCI in the 3rd quarter worth about $246,000. Shelton Capital Management raised its position in shares of MSCI by 745.1% during the 3rd quarter. Shelton Capital Management now owns 4,310 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,211,000 after buying an additional 3,800 shares in the last quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of MSCI by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,315 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $6,832,000 after buying an additional 274 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EULAV Asset Management lifted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 290.0% in the 3rd quarter. EULAV Asset Management now owns 74,100 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $38,019,000 after acquiring an additional 55,100 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Price Performance

MSCI stock traded up $2.35 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $481.66. The company had a trading volume of 33,331 shares, compared to its average volume of 585,514. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $485.29 and a 200 day moving average of $530.92. MSCI Inc. has a 12 month low of $439.95 and a 12 month high of $617.39. The company has a market capitalization of $38.16 billion, a PE ratio of 32.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.10.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $3.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.44 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $680.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $685.47 million. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 121.86% and a net margin of 44.55%. MSCI’s revenue was up 14.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.14 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc. will post 14.66 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 31st. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th were issued a $1.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.33%. MSCI’s payout ratio is currently 43.69%.

Insider Activity at MSCI

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 13,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $465.92 per share, with a total value of $6,056,960.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 327,479 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $152,579,015.68. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 13,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 25th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $465.92 per share, with a total value of $6,056,960.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 327,479 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $152,579,015.68. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Cd Baer Pettit bought 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $459.41 per share, for a total transaction of $3,445,575.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief operating officer now owns 291,038 shares in the company, valued at $133,705,767.58. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on MSCI. Redburn Atlantic raised MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $485.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 13th. Wolfe Research began coverage on MSCI in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on MSCI from $615.00 to $526.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $638.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of MSCI from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $613.00 to $569.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $570.53.

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.