Texas Permanent School Fund Corp Has $5.64 Million Position in MSCI Inc $MSCI

Texas Permanent School Fund Corp cut its position in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) by 9.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,783 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 1,030 shares during the quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp’s holdings in MSCI were worth $5,642,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Steph & Co. acquired a new position in MSCI during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Strategic Wealth Investment Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of MSCI in the second quarter worth $36,000. Banque Transatlantique SA boosted its holdings in MSCI by 355.6% during the first quarter. Banque Transatlantique SA now owns 82 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. grew its position in MSCI by 47.0% in the second quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 97 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in MSCI in the second quarter valued at $61,000. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Andrew C. Wiechmann sold 450 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $550.00, for a total transaction of $247,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 21,639 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,901,450. This trade represents a 2.04% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, General Counsel Robert J. Gutowski sold 624 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $558.42, for a total transaction of $348,454.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel owned 15,945 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,904,006.90. This trade represents a 3.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 3.31% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Stock Performance

MSCI stock opened at $550.90 on Wednesday. MSCI Inc has a 52 week low of $486.73 and a 52 week high of $634.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.91 and a beta of 1.32. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $557.58 and a 200 day simple moving average of $561.78.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The technology company reported $4.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.37 by $0.10. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 110.94% and a net margin of 40.03%.The firm had revenue of $793.43 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $794.87 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.86 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, October 28th that permits the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the technology company to buy up to 7.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 14th were issued a dividend of $1.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 14th. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.63%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on MSCI shares. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of MSCI to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on MSCI from $533.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. UBS Group increased their price target on MSCI from $700.00 to $710.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on MSCI from $655.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of MSCI in a research note on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $651.56.

MSCI Company 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.