MSCI Inc $MSCI Shares Purchased by Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc.

Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its stake in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) by 422.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 4,922 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 3,979 shares during the quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc.’s holdings in MSCI were worth $2,824,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MSCI. Aviso Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of MSCI by 2.0% during the third quarter. Aviso Financial Inc. now owns 859 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $487,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of MSCI by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 375 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $215,000 after buying an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of MSCI by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC now owns 568 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $326,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Keel Point LLC lifted its holdings in MSCI by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Keel Point LLC now owns 622 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $353,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in MSCI by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,074 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $616,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Stock Up 1.1%

NYSE:MSCI opened at $588.97 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $564.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $566.08. MSCI Inc has a 52-week low of $501.08 and a 52-week high of $626.28. The firm has a market cap of $42.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.64, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.24.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The technology company reported $4.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.38 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $850.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $830.91 million. MSCI had a net margin of 40.74% and a negative return on equity of 65.48%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.00 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that MSCI Inc will post 19.62 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on MSCI shares. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $655.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on MSCI from $545.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. UBS Group boosted their price objective on MSCI from $710.00 to $720.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $730.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $715.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $692.70.

Insider Buying and Selling at MSCI

In related news, CFO Andrew C. Wiechmann sold 450 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $560.00, for a total value of $252,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 22,544 shares in the company, valued at $12,624,640. The trade was a 1.96% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Alvise J. Munari sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $592.04, for a total value of $5,920,400.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 23,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,941,357.92. This represents a 29.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 3.76% of the company’s stock.

About MSCI

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.