Baskin Financial Services Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in MSCI Inc $MSCI

Baskin Financial Services Inc. grew its position in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 73,600 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 342 shares during the period. MSCI comprises approximately 3.2% of Baskin Financial Services Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Baskin Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in MSCI were worth $42,448,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSCI. Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its position in shares of MSCI by 15.4% during the 1st quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 142 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $80,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Optivise Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of MSCI by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Optivise Advisory Services LLC now owns 540 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $306,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of MSCI by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC now owns 361 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $204,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Gries Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of MSCI by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Gries Financial LLC now owns 1,505 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $868,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Copperwynd Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of MSCI by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Copperwynd Financial LLC now owns 1,793 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,034,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MSCI opened at $558.10 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.17 billion, a PE ratio of 36.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.33. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $564.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $559.49. MSCI Inc has a 1 year low of $486.73 and a 1 year high of $642.45.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The technology company reported $4.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.12 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $772.68 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $763.06 million. MSCI had a net margin of 39.46% and a negative return on equity of 143.13%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.64 earnings per share. Analysts expect that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th were paid a dividend of $1.80 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is 47.68%.

Insider Transactions at MSCI

In other news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 84 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $548.69 per share, for a total transaction of $46,089.96. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 1,279,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $702,296,314.19. This represents a 0.01% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders have bought 12,400 shares of company stock worth $6,731,599 in the last 90 days. 3.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on MSCI shares. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of MSCI to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of MSCI from $625.00 to $655.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. Raymond James Financial raised shares of MSCI from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $650.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of MSCI from $655.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $649.70.

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.