Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. Lowers Stock Holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. decreased its position in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 0.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 47,912 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 145 shares during the period. MSCI makes up approximately 1.5% of Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned approximately 0.06% of MSCI worth $27,101,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bamco Inc. NY increased its holdings in shares of MSCI by 0.7% in the third quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 2,260,105 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,159,615,000 after buying an additional 15,184 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its holdings in MSCI by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,893,728 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $971,634,000 after purchasing an additional 30,528 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in MSCI by 14.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,460,634 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $749,422,000 after purchasing an additional 179,508 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in MSCI by 32.5% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 959,894 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $492,502,000 after purchasing an additional 235,290 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in MSCI by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 767,297 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $393,686,000 after purchasing an additional 7,183 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of MSCI traded up $18.81 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $464.81. The company had a trading volume of 2,230,013 shares, compared to its average volume of 529,352. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $545.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $538.56. MSCI Inc. has a 52 week low of $439.95 and a 52 week high of $617.39. The company has a market capitalization of $36.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.06.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $3.52 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.44 by $0.08. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 111.17% and a net margin of 45.42%. The firm had revenue of $680.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $685.47 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.14 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that MSCI Inc. will post 14.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be given a $1.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.38%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.44%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MSCI. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on MSCI from $615.00 to $526.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded MSCI from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $613.00 to $569.00 in a report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $638.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a report on Friday, April 12th. UBS Group reduced their price target on MSCI from $700.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $562.87.

MSCI 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.