HighTower Advisors LLC Sells 3,820 Shares of MSCI Inc $MSCI

HighTower Advisors LLC cut its holdings in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) by 4.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 80,146 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 3,820 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in MSCI were worth $45,982,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in shares of MSCI by 7.6% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 2,003 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,133,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP raised its stake in shares of MSCI by 39.0% during the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 6,585 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,724,000 after acquiring an additional 1,846 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of MSCI by 20.9% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,052 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $607,000 after acquiring an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its stake in shares of MSCI by 1.0% during the second quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 35,130 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $20,261,000 after acquiring an additional 344 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Osterweis Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of MSCI during the second quarter valued at about $88,000. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on MSCI. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $655.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Bank of America began coverage on shares of MSCI in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $700.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of MSCI from $545.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $715.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Evercore upped their price objective on shares of MSCI from $655.00 to $690.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $692.70.

MSCI Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MSCI opened at $582.45 on Friday. MSCI Inc has a 1 year low of $501.08 and a 1 year high of $626.28. The company’s 50-day moving average is $563.42 and its 200 day moving average is $565.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.24.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The technology company reported $4.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.38 by $0.17. MSCI had a net margin of 40.74% and a negative return on equity of 65.48%. The company had revenue of $850.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $830.91 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $4.00 earnings per share. MSCI’s quarterly revenue was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc will post 19.62 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 29th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $2.05 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. This represents a $8.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. MSCI’s payout ratio is currently 46.83%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Alvise J. Munari sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $592.04, for a total transaction of $5,920,400.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 23,548 shares in the company, valued at $13,941,357.92. The trade was a 29.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale 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 the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $560.00, for a total transaction of $252,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 22,544 shares in the company, valued at $12,624,640. This represents a 1.96% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 3.76% of the stock is 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.