Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. cut its holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 10.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,721 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 1,117 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in MSCI were worth $4,683,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of MSCI. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in MSCI during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $496,541,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in MSCI by 74.9% during the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,456,194 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $701,522,000 after buying an additional 623,712 shares during the period. PineStone Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in MSCI by 129.4% in the second quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 730,986 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $352,153,000 after buying an additional 412,389 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado lifted its position in MSCI by 3,600.0% in the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 253,636 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $143,469,000 after buying an additional 246,781 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Findlay Park Partners LLP bought a new position in MSCI during the first quarter valued at $114,836,000. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSCI has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of MSCI to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Barclays upped their target price on MSCI from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Argus increased their price target on MSCI from $520.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on MSCI from $615.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $638.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $584.79.

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of MSCI opened at $559.93 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $541.33 and a 200-day moving average price of $522.13. MSCI Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $439.95 and a fifty-two week high of $617.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.36 billion, a PE ratio of 38.22, a PEG ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.11.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The technology company reported $3.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.55 by $0.09. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 143.09% and a net margin of 43.86%. The company had revenue of $707.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $696.41 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.26 earnings per share. MSCI’s revenue was up 14.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that MSCI Inc. will post 14.79 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th were given a dividend of $1.60 per share. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.14%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. MSCI’s payout ratio is currently 43.69%.

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.