Vise Technologies Inc. Takes $1.02 Million Position in MSCI Inc $MSCI

Vise Technologies Inc. bought a new stake in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 1,825 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,022,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 7.6% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 2,003 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,133,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP increased its holdings in shares of MSCI by 39.0% in the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 6,585 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,724,000 after acquiring an additional 1,846 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of MSCI by 20.9% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,052 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $607,000 after acquiring an additional 182 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its position in MSCI by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 35,130 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $20,261,000 after purchasing an additional 344 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Osterweis Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in MSCI during the 2nd quarter worth $88,000. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MSCI Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of MSCI stock opened at $564.08 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $582.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $573.55. MSCI Inc has a 12-month low of $501.08 and a 12-month high of $644.77. The stock has a market cap of $41.01 billion, a PE ratio of 30.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.23.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $867.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $870.71 million. MSCI had a net margin of 40.74% and a negative return on equity of 55.19%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.17 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that MSCI Inc will post 19.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $700.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Raymond James Financial upped their price objective on MSCI from $730.00 to $760.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Barclays increased their price objective on MSCI from $700.00 to $735.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $690.00 target price on MSCI in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on MSCI from $700.00 to $690.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. One 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.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $709.50.

About MSCI

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.