Larson Financial Group LLC Increases Holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Larson Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 244.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 100 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC’s holdings in MSCI were worth $57,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Garrison Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of MSCI by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Garrison Asset Management LLC now owns 3,557 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,012,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Duality Advisers LP increased its holdings in shares of MSCI by 351.5% in the fourth quarter. Duality Advisers LP now owns 6,682 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,780,000 after purchasing an additional 5,202 shares during the last quarter. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of MSCI in the fourth quarter worth about $255,000. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI bought a new stake in shares of MSCI in the fourth quarter worth about $284,000. Finally, EFG Asset Management Americas Corp. increased its holdings in shares of MSCI by 36.8% in the fourth quarter. EFG Asset Management Americas Corp. now owns 5,338 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,019,000 after purchasing an additional 1,437 shares during the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MSCI opened at $464.49 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.71, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.06. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $543.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $538.04. MSCI Inc. has a 52-week low of $439.95 and a 52-week high of $617.39.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $3.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.44 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $680.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $685.47 million. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 121.86% and a net margin of 44.55%. MSCI’s quarterly revenue was up 14.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.14 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that MSCI Inc. will post 14.76 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th will be issued a $1.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.38%. MSCI’s payout ratio is 43.69%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com cut MSCI from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on MSCI in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on MSCI from $671.00 to $615.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Barclays reduced their price objective on MSCI from $700.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $638.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, MSCI presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $562.87.

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.