Lazard Asset Management LLC Buys 7,091 Shares of MSCI Inc $MSCI

Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its stake in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) by 26.5% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 33,864 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 7,091 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in MSCI were worth $18,253,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in MSCI in the fourth quarter valued at about $528,560,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in MSCI during the fourth quarter worth about $1,302,000. PICTET BANK & TRUST Ltd grew its stake in MSCI by 116.8% during the fourth quarter. PICTET BANK & TRUST Ltd now owns 5,150 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,955,000 after buying an additional 2,775 shares in the last quarter. SBI Okasan Asset Management Co.Ltd. acquired a new stake in MSCI during the fourth quarter worth about $1,406,000. Finally, Retail Employees Superannuation Pty Ltd as trustee for Retail Employees Superannuation Trust bought a new position in MSCI in the 4th quarter valued at about $13,636,000. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

MSCI Stock Up 0.7%

NYSE MSCI opened at $583.39 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $42.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.24. MSCI Inc has a twelve month low of $501.08 and a twelve month high of $644.77. The business’s fifty day moving average is $596.46 and its 200 day moving average is $576.67.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The technology company reported $4.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.99 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $867.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $870.71 million. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 55.19% and a net margin of 40.74%.MSCI’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $4.17 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc will post 19.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be paid a $2.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $8.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.86%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSCI has been the subject of several analyst reports. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $690.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of MSCI from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of MSCI from $715.00 to $730.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Evercore set a $722.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on MSCI in a research note on Friday, July 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $760.00 target price for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and eleven have given a Buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $709.50.

MSCI 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.