Jeffrey Ubben‘s Valueact Capital has boosted its activist stake in Msci Inc (NYSE:MSCI). The new position amounts to 9.34 million shares of the company, up from the previously held 7.45 million. The fund currently owns 8.00% of Msci’s common stock, a new filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission revealed.
Msci Inc (NYSE:MSCI) is a US company, which operates in the Performance and Risk business and the Governance business segments, providing investment decision support tools, including indexes and portfolio risk and performance analytics products and services. Msci is best known for publishing the widely used as benchmark indexes MSCI World and MSCI EAFE. In 2010, the company acquired RiskMetrics Group, Inc, a former global provider of risk management and corporate governance products for a sum of $1.55 billion.
In the past 5 years, Msci Inc (NYSE:MSCI) proved to be able to sustain steady growth of its profits, generating earnings of almost $222.00 million ($1.85 per share) in 2013 and approximately $183.00 million ($1.50 per share) in 2012. This year, the company is expected to produce earnings of $2.02 per share, already generating $0.46 in the first quarter. In the first quarter financial results report, the company’s Chairman and CEO, Henry A. Fernandez said “MSCI had a strong start to 2014. Our Run Rate grew by 9.5% in the first quarter, driven by the investments we have been making and a modest improvement in our operating environment.”
Two other funds, which own large stakes in Msci Inc (NYSE:MSCI) are David Blood and Al Gore‘s Generation Investment Management and Sharlyn C. Heslam‘s Stockbridge Partners, the former holding 9.32 million shares of the company and the latter 2.55 million.
Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer of Valueact Capital since 2000, Jeffrey Ubben is bullish on Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), which represents the largest share (around 20.70%) of the fund’s equity portfolio. Valueact also holds significant positions in Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl Inc (NYSE:VRX), in which the fund holds nearly 19.00 million shares, and Motorola Solutions Inc (NYSE:MSI), in which it holds almost 29.00 million.
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