Bank of New York Mellon Corp Has $245.27 Million Position in MSCI Inc $MSCI

Key Points

• Bank of New York Mellon reduced its MSCI stake by 10.1% in the fourth quarter, though it still held 427,493 shares worth about $245.3 million at the time of filing.
• MSCI continues to draw strong Wall Street support, with several firms raising price targets and the stock carrying a consensus Buy rating and average target of $697.70.
• The company posted solid quarterly results, reporting $4.55 EPS versus the $4.38 estimate and $850.8 million in revenue, while also paying a $2.05 quarterly dividend that annualizes to a 1.3% yield.

Bank of New York Mellon Corp cut its position in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 10.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 427,493 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 48,280 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned 0.57% of MSCI worth $245,266,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSCI. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in 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 buying an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP boosted its position in MSCI by 39.0% in 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 in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in MSCI by 20.9% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,052 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $607,000 after buying an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its position in MSCI by 1.0% in the second quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 35,130 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $20,261,000 after buying an additional 344 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Osterweis Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in MSCI in the second quarter valued at about $88,000. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on MSCI. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of MSCI from $719.00 to $727.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $655.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Weiss Ratings raised shares of MSCI from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research note on Monday. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of MSCI from $710.00 to $720.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $730.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and ten have issued a Buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $697.70.

Insider Activity at MSCI

In other news, insider Alvise J. Munari sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $592.04, for a total value of $5,920,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 23,548 shares in the company, valued at $13,941,357.92. This represents a 29.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Andrew C. Wiechmann sold 450 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $560.00, for a total transaction of $252,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 22,544 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,624,640. This trade represents a 1.96% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 3.76% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MSCI opened at $620.52 on Friday. MSCI Inc has a 52 week low of $501.08 and a 52 week high of $644.68. The company has a market capitalization of $45.17 billion, a PE ratio of 35.44, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $576.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $568.51.

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

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th were issued a $2.05 dividend. This represents a $8.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. MSCI's dividend payout ratio is 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.

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