MSCI Inc $MSCI Shares Bought by Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH grew its holdings in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) by 10.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 87,772 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 8,359 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH owned 0.11% of MSCI worth $49,803,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Intact Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in MSCI by 16.0% during the 2nd quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 138 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $80,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Copperwynd Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of MSCI by 1.1% in the second quarter. Copperwynd Financial LLC now owns 1,793 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,034,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC grew its stake in shares of MSCI by 0.7% in the second quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 2,772 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,599,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. raised its stake in shares of MSCI by 8.5% during the second quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 268 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $155,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of MSCI by 2.4% during the third quarter. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC now owns 980 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $556,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

MSCI Price Performance

Shares of MSCI opened at $589.12 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $568.15 and its 200-day moving average is $565.11. The company has a market capitalization of $44.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.33 and a beta of 1.30. MSCI Inc has a fifty-two week low of $486.73 and a fifty-two week high of $634.99.

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

MSCI Announces Dividend

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

MSCI announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Tuesday, October 28th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the technology company to purchase up to 7.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. 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 report on Wednesday, October 29th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of MSCI from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, January 16th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of 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 target price on MSCI from $655.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Seaport Research Partners upgraded shares of MSCI to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $650.13.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 2,290 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 5th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $536.17 per share, with a total value of $1,227,829.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 335,069 shares in the company, valued at approximately $179,653,945.73. This trade represents a 0.69% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Andrew C. Wiechmann sold 450 shares of the business’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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 21,639 shares in the company, valued at $11,901,450. This trade represents a 2.04% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 3.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.