Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Increases Holdings in MSCI Inc $MSCI

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 145,982 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,064 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in MSCI were worth $84,194,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of MSCI by 136.4% in the first quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 52 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Steph & Co. acquired a new stake in MSCI in the second quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. raised its stake in shares of MSCI by 50.0% during the first quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 66 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. Banque Transatlantique SA boosted its stake in shares of MSCI by 355.6% in the first quarter. Banque Transatlantique SA now owns 82 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd grew its holdings in MSCI by 2,666.7% during the 1st quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 83 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Trading Up 0.4%

MSCI stock opened at $582.50 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $562.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $561.89. MSCI Inc has a 12-month low of $486.73 and a 12-month high of $642.45. The firm has a market cap of $43.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 1.34.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The technology company reported $4.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.37 by $0.10. MSCI had a net margin of 40.03% and a negative return on equity of 110.94%. The firm had revenue of $793.43 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $794.87 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.86 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI declared that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Tuesday, October 28th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the technology company to reacquire up to 7.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 14th. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is 45.63%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of MSCI from $655.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded MSCI to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on MSCI from $588.00 to $611.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Raymond James Financial raised MSCI from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $650.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $710.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $655.90.

About MSCI

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.