Petrus Trust Company LTA Makes New $32.56 Million Investment in MSCI Inc $MSCI

Petrus Trust Company LTA acquired a new position in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 58,146 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,564,000. MSCI makes up approximately 3.1% of Petrus Trust Company LTA’s holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Petrus Trust Company LTA owned approximately 0.08% of MSCI at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MSCI. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in MSCI by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC now owns 568 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $326,000 after buying an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP raised its stake in MSCI by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,074 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $616,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. AdvisorShares Investments LLC lifted its position in MSCI by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. AdvisorShares Investments LLC now owns 830 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $476,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank lifted its position in MSCI by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,074 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $616,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of MSCI by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 530 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $304,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MSCI Price Performance

MSCI opened at $564.39 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $41.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.23. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $579.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $573.07. MSCI Inc has a 1-year low of $501.08 and a 1-year high of $644.77.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The technology company reported $4.94 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.99 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $867.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $870.71 million. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 55.19% and a net margin of 40.74%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $4.17 EPS. Research analysts expect that MSCI Inc will post 19.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th will be paid a dividend of $2.05 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $8.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.86%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSCI has been the topic of a number of research reports. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on MSCI in a research note on Friday, July 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $760.00 price target on the stock. Barclays increased their price objective on MSCI from $700.00 to $735.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Evercore set a $722.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. UBS Group set a $615.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $690.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and eleven have issued a Buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average 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.