MSCI Inc $MSCI Shares Acquired by State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D boosted its stake in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) by 4.5% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 26,862 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,151 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in MSCI were worth $15,242,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Aberdeen Group plc increased its stake in shares of MSCI by 15.8% during the third quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 67,411 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $38,250,000 after acquiring an additional 9,199 shares during the period. Lafayette Investments Inc. bought a new position in MSCI during the 3rd quarter valued at $227,000. Assetmark Inc. increased its position in shares of MSCI by 8.4% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,175 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,234,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its stake in shares of MSCI by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 16,641 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $9,442,000 after buying an additional 736 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI in the third quarter valued at $3,191,000. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSCI has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of MSCI in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Evercore lifted their price objective on shares of MSCI from $655.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of MSCI from $655.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. UBS Group set a $638.00 price target on MSCI in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $690.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $659.00.

MSCI Price Performance

MSCI stock opened at $526.21 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $572.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $565.74. The company has a market cap of $38.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.29. MSCI Inc has a fifty-two week low of $486.73 and a fifty-two week high of $626.28.

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

MSCI Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 13th will be issued a $2.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 13th. This is an increase from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.80. This represents a $8.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.26%.

MSCI declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, October 28th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the technology company to repurchase up to 7.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at MSCI

In related news, General Counsel Robert J. Gutowski sold 624 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $558.42, for a total transaction of $348,454.08. Following the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 15,945 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,904,006.90. The trade was a 3.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 2,290 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $536.17 per share, with a total value of $1,227,829.30. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 335,069 shares in the company, valued at approximately $179,653,945.73. This represents a 0.69% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 3.31% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

MSCI Company Profile

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.