MSCI Inc $MSCI Shares Sold by Rathbones Group PLC

Rathbones Group PLC lessened its holdings in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) by 60.4% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 16,590 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 25,322 shares during the quarter. Rathbones Group PLC’s holdings in MSCI were worth $9,413,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Aviso Financial Inc. boosted its position in MSCI by 2.0% during the third quarter. Aviso Financial Inc. now owns 859 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $487,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of MSCI by 16.0% in the second quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 138 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $80,000 after buying an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC raised its stake in shares of MSCI by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 2,772 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,599,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance lifted its position in shares of MSCI by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 509 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $289,000 after buying an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC grew its stake in MSCI by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC now owns 3,300 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,872,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of MSCI opened at $569.33 on Monday. MSCI Inc has a 52-week low of $486.73 and a 52-week high of $626.28. The stock has a market cap of $41.83 billion, a PE ratio of 36.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.29. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $571.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $565.55.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The technology company reported $4.66 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.62 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $822.53 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $819.51 million. MSCI had a net margin of 38.36% and a negative return on equity of 82.59%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $4.18 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 13th were issued a $2.05 dividend. This represents a $8.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 13th. This is a positive change from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.80. MSCI’s payout ratio is currently 52.26%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $715.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Evercore lifted their target price on shares of MSCI from $655.00 to $690.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of MSCI in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $700.00 target price for the company. UBS Group set a $638.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of MSCI from $590.00 to $618.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, MSCI currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $671.78.

Insider Transactions at MSCI

In other MSCI news, CFO Andrew C. Wiechmann sold 450 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $550.00, for a total value of $247,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 21,639 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,901,450. This trade represents a 2.04% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were bought at an average price of $518.95 per share, for a total transaction of $415,160.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 1,493,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $775,231,900.65. The trade was a 0.05% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 3.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About MSCI

MSCI Inc is a global provider of investment decision support tools and services for the financial industry. The company is best known for its family of market indexes, which are widely used as benchmarks by asset managers and as the basis for exchange-traded funds and other passive products. In addition to index construction and licensing, MSCI offers portfolio analytics, risk models, factor and performance attribution tools, and a suite of data and technology solutions designed to support portfolio management and trading.

Beyond traditional indexing and risk analytics, MSCI has expanded into environmental, social and governance (ESG) research and ratings, offering data, scores and screening tools that help investors integrate sustainability considerations into investment processes.