BLI Banque de Luxembourg Investments Trims Stake in MSCI Inc $MSCI

Key Points

• BLI Banque de Luxembourg Investments reduced its MSCI stake by 12.1% in the fourth quarter, selling 3,460 shares and ending with 25,240 shares valued at about $14.7 million.
• Despite some institutional selling, hedge funds and other institutions still own 89.97% of MSCI, and several large investors recently increased or initiated positions in the company.
• Wall Street remains upbeat on MSCI, with a consensus Buy rating and an average price target of $697.70, while the company also beat quarterly EPS and revenue estimates in its latest earnings report.

BLI Banque de Luxembourg Investments decreased its position in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 12.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 25,240 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 3,460 shares during the period. BLI Banque de Luxembourg Investments' holdings in MSCI were worth $14,692,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI in the 4th quarter worth approximately $528,560,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of MSCI by 499.3% in the 3rd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 874,882 shares of the technology company's stock worth $496,417,000 after buying an additional 728,900 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of MSCI by 36.0% in 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. Banque Pictet & Cie SA grew its stake in shares of MSCI by 103.3% in the 4th quarter. Banque Pictet & Cie SA now owns 523,035 shares of the technology company's stock worth $300,081,000 after buying an additional 265,750 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bamco Inc. NY grew its stake in shares of MSCI by 10.3% in 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $730.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised MSCI from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price target for the company from $650.00 to $700.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $655.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Weiss Ratings raised MSCI from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on MSCI from $719.00 to $727.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and ten have assigned a Buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $697.70.

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of MSCI stock opened at $602.98 on Tuesday. MSCI Inc has a 52-week low of $501.08 and a 52-week high of $644.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.90 billion, a PE ratio of 34.44, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.24. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $579.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $569.26.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.38 by $0.17. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 65.48% and a net margin of 40.74%.The business had revenue of $850.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $830.91 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $4.00 EPS. MSCI's revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that MSCI Inc will post 19.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MSCI news, insider Alvise J. Munari sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the insider owned 23,548 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,941,357.92. This represents a 29.81% decrease in their position. 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 firm's 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 transaction, the chief financial officer 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.

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.

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