Teacher Retirement System of Texas Lowers Stock Holdings in MSCI Inc $MSCI

Teacher Retirement System of Texas reduced its position in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) by 63.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,940 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 20,958 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in MSCI were worth $6,775,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MSCI. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in shares of MSCI by 7.6% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 2,003 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,133,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP boosted its stake in 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 buying an additional 1,846 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its position in MSCI by 20.9% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,052 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $607,000 after buying an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in MSCI by 14.6% in the 2nd quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 675 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $389,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Patton Fund Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI in the 2nd quarter valued at about $236,000. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of NYSE:MSCI opened at $594.58 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.30. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $569.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $565.16. MSCI Inc has a 12-month low of $486.73 and a 12-month high of $634.99.

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

MSCI declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Tuesday, October 28th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the technology company to purchase up to 7.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on MSCI shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on MSCI from $655.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $690.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a report on Monday, January 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective 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. Barclays increased their target price on MSCI from $650.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on MSCI from $700.00 to $710.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, MSCI presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $650.13.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, General Counsel Robert J. Gutowski sold 624 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $558.42, for a total transaction of $348,454.08. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel directly 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 SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 10,210 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 5th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $536.13 per share, with a total value of $5,473,887.30. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,487,047 shares in the company, valued at $797,250,508.11. This trade represents a 0.69% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 3.31% of the stock is owned by 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.