Voya Investment Management LLC Has $14.83 Million Stake in MSCI Inc $MSCI

Voya Investment Management LLC lessened its position in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) by 89.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 26,130 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 222,512 shares during the period. Voya Investment Management LLC’s holdings in MSCI were worth $14,827,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Baskin Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in shares of MSCI by 0.5% in the third quarter. Baskin Financial Services Inc. now owns 73,932 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $41,950,000 after buying an additional 332 shares during the period. Bennett Selby Investments LP increased its position in MSCI by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bennett Selby Investments LP now owns 2,544 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,444,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the period. Czech National Bank raised its stake in shares of MSCI by 3.9% during the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 19,650 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $11,150,000 after acquiring an additional 738 shares during the last quarter. Threadgill Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of MSCI by 0.4% in the third quarter. Threadgill Financial LLC now owns 14,859 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $8,431,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Finally, WealthBridge Investment Counsel Inc. increased its holdings in MSCI by 14.0% in the third quarter. WealthBridge Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 4,062 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,305,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

MSCI Price Performance

MSCI stock opened at $576.29 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $558.51 and its 200-day moving average is $561.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.30 billion, a PE ratio of 36.52 and a beta of 1.32. MSCI Inc has a 1 year low of $486.73 and a 1 year high of $634.99.

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

MSCI announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, October 28th that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the technology company to repurchase up to 7.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 was Friday, November 14th. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.63%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Andrew C. Wiechmann sold 450 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $550.00, for a total value of $247,500.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 21,639 shares in the company, valued at $11,901,450. This represents a 2.04% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 10,210 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $536.13 per share, with a total value of $5,473,887.30. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,487,047 shares in the company, valued at approximately $797,250,508.11. This represents a 0.69% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 3.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MSCI shares. Evercore ISI increased their price target on MSCI from $588.00 to $611.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of MSCI from $655.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of MSCI from $650.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $710.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of MSCI from $533.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $642.63.

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.