Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. Buys 904 Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. grew its position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 10.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 9,702 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 904 shares during the period. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.’s holdings in MSCI were worth $5,656,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in MSCI by 51.2% in the 3rd quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 130 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $75,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd grew its holdings in shares of MSCI by 4.7% during the third quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 20,844 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $12,009,000 after purchasing an additional 931 shares during the last quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. increased its stake in shares of MSCI by 0.6% in the third quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 9,241 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $5,387,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in MSCI by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 400,308 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $233,352,000 after buying an additional 5,107 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its position in MSCI by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 13,776 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $8,030,000 after buying an additional 387 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE MSCI opened at $604.96 on Friday. MSCI Inc. has a 12-month low of $439.95 and a 12-month high of $631.70. The firm has a market cap of $47.41 billion, a PE ratio of 39.72, a P/E/G ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.11. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $589.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $544.93.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The technology company reported $3.86 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.77 by $0.09. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 162.06% and a net margin of 43.06%. The company had revenue of $724.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $716.15 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.45 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that MSCI Inc. will post 14.98 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a dividend of $1.60 per share. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.06%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. MSCI’s payout ratio is 42.02%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on MSCI shares. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of MSCI from $640.00 to $662.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Evercore ISI began coverage on MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $690.00 target price for the company. Barclays upped their price target on MSCI from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $638.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic raised MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $680.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $631.83.

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.