Prudential PLC Buys 11,900 Shares of MSCI Inc $MSCI

Prudential PLC increased its position in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) by 1,233.2% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 12,865 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,900 shares during the quarter. Prudential PLC’s holdings in MSCI were worth $7,420,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MSCI. Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Steph & Co. acquired a new position in shares of MSCI during the second quarter worth approximately $35,000. Banque Transatlantique SA raised its position in shares of MSCI by 355.6% during the first quarter. Banque Transatlantique SA now owns 82 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 2,666.7% in the 1st quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 83 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GW&K Investment Management LLC grew its position in MSCI by 133.3% in the 1st quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 84 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSCI has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $710.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of MSCI from $655.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a 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 boosted their price objective on MSCI from $588.00 to $611.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on MSCI from $533.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MSCI presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $655.90.

MSCI Stock Down 0.0%

MSCI stock opened at $559.58 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $42.05 billion, a PE ratio of 35.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 1.34. The business has a 50 day moving average of $563.31 and a 200-day moving average of $563.27. MSCI Inc has a 12-month low of $486.73 and a 12-month high of $642.45.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The technology company reported $4.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.37 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $793.43 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $794.87 million. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 110.94% and a net margin of 40.03%.The business’s revenue was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.86 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 28th. Investors of record on Friday, November 14th will be given a dividend of $1.80 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 14th. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.63%.

MSCI announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, October 28th that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the technology company to reacquire up to 7.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.