2,913 Shares in MSCI Inc $MSCI Bought by ABN Amro Investment Solutions

Key Points

• ABN Amro Investment Solutions initiated a new position in MSCI during the fourth quarter, buying 2,913 shares worth about $1.67 million.
• Wall Street remains broadly bullish on MSCI, with several analysts reaffirming buy/outperform ratings and a consensus target price of $692.70.
• MSCI reported strong quarterly results, beating earnings and revenue estimates, while also announcing a $2.05 quarterly dividend for a 1.4% yield.

ABN Amro Investment Solutions acquired a new position in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 2,913 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $1,671,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of MSCI by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,674,093 shares of the technology company's stock worth $5,489,177,000 after buying an additional 165,851 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of MSCI by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,320,761 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,884,233,000 after buying an additional 39,450 shares during the last quarter. Bamco Inc. NY lifted its position in shares of MSCI by 10.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 2,394,117 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,358,446,000 after buying an additional 223,784 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of MSCI by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,777,749 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,008,745,000 after buying an additional 109,287 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of MSCI by 36.0% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,069,180 shares of the technology company's stock worth $606,674,000 after buying an additional 282,859 shares during the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MSCI. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a "buy" rating and set a $715.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of MSCI in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Evercore upped their target price on MSCI from $655.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $730.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $655.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $692.70.

MSCI Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of MSCI opened at $588.97 on Friday. MSCI Inc has a 12-month low of $501.08 and a 12-month high of $626.28. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $564.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $566.08. The stock has a market cap of $42.88 billion, a PE ratio of 33.64, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.24.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 analysts' expectations of $830.91 million. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 65.48% and a net margin of 40.74%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $4.00 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that MSCI Inc will post 19.62 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be paid a $2.05 dividend. 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 is presently 46.83%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Alvise J. Munari sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $592.04, for a total value of $5,920,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Andrew C. Wiechmann sold 450 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $560.00, for a total value of $252,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 22,544 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,624,640. The trade was a 1.96% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 3.76% of the company's stock.

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.

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