Align Financial LLC Purchases Shares of 50,488 MSCI Inc $MSCI

Align Financial LLC acquired a new stake in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 50,488 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $28,966,000. Align Financial LLC owned 0.07% of MSCI as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MSCI. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in shares of MSCI by 7.6% in the first 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 during the period. Woodline Partners LP grew its holdings in MSCI by 39.0% during the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 6,585 shares of the technology company's stock worth $3,724,000 after acquiring an additional 1,846 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 182 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its holdings in 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 worth $20,261,000 after acquiring an additional 344 shares during the period. Finally, Osterweis Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in MSCI during the second quarter worth about $88,000. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Alvise J. Munari sold 10,000 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the insider directly owned 23,548 shares of the company's stock, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 3.76% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on MSCI from $719.00 to $727.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised MSCI from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $650.00 to $700.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating and set a $730.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $655.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered MSCI from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and ten have issued a Buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $697.70.

MSCI Trading Down 1.9%

Shares of MSCI opened at $596.48 on Thursday. MSCI Inc has a 12 month low of $501.08 and a 12 month high of $644.68. The stock's 50 day moving average is $588.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $571.36. The firm has a market cap of $43.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.06, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.24.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The technology company reported $4.55 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.38 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $850.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $830.91 million. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 65.48% and a net margin of 40.74%.MSCI's quarterly revenue was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.00 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that MSCI Inc will post 19.62 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th were paid a $2.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $8.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. MSCI's payout ratio is currently 46.83%.

MSCI 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MSCI? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.