MSCI Inc $MSCI Stock Holdings Decreased by Baird Financial Group Inc.

Key Points

• Baird Financial Group Inc. reduced its stake in MSCI Inc. by 9.5% in the first quarter, now owning approximately $85.57 million, or 151,308 shares of the company.
• CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased nearly 10,000 shares of MSCI, increasing his ownership and reflecting confidence in the company's prospects.
• Analysts have a generally positive outlook on MSCI, with upgrades from firms like JPMorgan Chase and UBS, indicating a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with a price target of around $654.73.

Baird Financial Group Inc. lessened its holdings in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 9.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 151,308 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 15,858 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.20% of MSCI worth $85,565,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Menard Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in MSCI during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Olde Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in MSCI during the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in MSCI by 136.4% during the 1st quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 52 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. grew its holdings in MSCI by 50.0% during the 1st quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 66 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Colonial Trust Co SC grew its holdings in MSCI by 122.6% during the 4th quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 69 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of MSCI from $655.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of MSCI from $578.00 to $533.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of MSCI from $650.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of MSCI from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $650.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $654.73.

MSCI Price Performance

Shares of MSCI stock traded down $3.26 on Wednesday, hitting $550.65. The company had a trading volume of 898,650 shares, compared to its average volume of 603,678. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $565.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $559.82. The company has a market cap of $42.60 billion, a PE ratio of 36.47, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.34. MSCI Inc has a 52 week low of $486.73 and a 52 week high of $642.45.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The technology company reported $4.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.12 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $772.68 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $763.06 million. MSCI had a net margin of 39.46% and a negative return on equity of 143.13%. The business's revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.64 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th were paid a $1.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. MSCI's payout ratio is currently 47.68%.

Insider Activity

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 9,916 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 24th. The shares were bought at an average price of $544.70 per share, with a total value of $5,401,245.20. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,279,867 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $697,143,554.90. This trade represents a 0.78% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Over the last 90 days, insiders have purchased 12,400 shares of company stock valued at $6,731,599. Insiders own 3.31% of the company's stock.

MSCI Company Profile

MSCI Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides critical decision support tools and solutions for the investment community to manage investment processes worldwide. The Index segment provides indexes for use in various areas of the investment process, including indexed financial product, such as ETFs, mutual funds, annuities, futures, options, structured products, and over-the-counter derivatives; performance benchmarking; portfolio construction and rebalancing; and asset allocation, as well as licenses GICS and GICS Direct.