Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Purchases 1,752 Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its position in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 7.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 26,388 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,752 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in MSCI were worth $14,926,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MSCI. Optiver Holding B.V. bought a new position in shares of MSCI during the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. ORG Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of MSCI by 5,600.0% during the 3rd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 57 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Headinvest LLC bought a new position in shares of MSCI during the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of MSCI during the 1st quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in MSCI in the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSCI has been the subject of several analyst reports. Raymond James reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of MSCI in a research note on Friday, January 5th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of MSCI in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of MSCI from $544.00 to $617.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of MSCI from $615.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of MSCI from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MSCI has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $581.57.

MSCI Stock Performance

NYSE MSCI opened at $505.42 on Friday. MSCI Inc. has a 52-week low of $451.55 and a 52-week high of $617.39. The company has a market capitalization of $40.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a fifty day moving average of $553.65 and a 200-day moving average of $538.84.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The technology company reported $3.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.29 by $0.39. MSCI had a net margin of 45.42% and a negative return on equity of 111.17%. The company had revenue of $690.11 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $662.64 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.84 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 19.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that MSCI Inc. will post 14.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 29th. Investors of record on Friday, February 16th were given a $1.60 dividend. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. This is a boost from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.38. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.44%.

MSCI Company Profile

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.