MSCI Inc $MSCI Holdings Lowered by Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA cut its stake in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) by 84.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 93,270 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 506,893 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned approximately 0.12% of MSCI worth $52,922,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in MSCI by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,508,242 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $5,483,783,000 after purchasing an additional 131,390 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 1.4% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,281,311 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,892,463,000 after buying an additional 45,547 shares during the period. Bamco Inc. NY boosted its stake in MSCI by 4.8% during the second quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 2,170,333 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,251,718,000 after buying an additional 98,680 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in MSCI by 1.8% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,993,524 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,146,298,000 after acquiring an additional 34,335 shares during the period. Finally, Fiera Capital Corp grew its holdings in MSCI by 2.2% during the second quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 969,850 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $559,351,000 after acquiring an additional 20,682 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at MSCI

In other MSCI news, General Counsel Robert J. Gutowski sold 624 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $558.42, for a total value of $348,454.08. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel owned 15,945 shares in the company, valued at $8,904,006.90. This represents a 3.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Andrew C. Wiechmann sold 450 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $550.00, for a total transaction of $247,500.00. Following the sale, 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. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 3.31% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MSCI opened at $589.12 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $568.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $565.11. MSCI Inc has a 52 week low of $486.73 and a 52 week high of $634.99. The company has a market cap of $44.27 billion, a PE ratio of 37.33 and a beta of 1.30.

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

MSCI announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, October 28th that permits the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the technology company to repurchase up to 7.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 28th. Investors of record on Friday, November 14th were given a dividend of $1.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 14th. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. MSCI’s payout ratio is presently 45.63%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on MSCI shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of MSCI from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, January 16th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $710.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of MSCI from $570.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Seaport Research Partners raised MSCI to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on MSCI from $655.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $650.13.

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.