Bridges Investment Management Inc. Invests $7.24 Million in MSCI Inc $MSCI

Key Points

• Bridges Investment Management initiated a new position in MSCI during the fourth quarter, buying 12,621 shares worth about $7.24 million.
• MSCI continues to attract strong institutional interest, with hedge funds and other institutional investors owning 89.97% of the stock.
• Analysts remain bullish on MSCI: the stock has a Buy consensus rating and an average price target of $697.70, while the company recently beat earnings and revenue expectations in its latest quarter.

Bridges Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 12,621 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $7,241,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of MSCI. Katamaran Capital LLP lifted its position in MSCI by 57.1% in the third quarter. Katamaran Capital LLP now owns 4,919 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $2,791,000 after buying an additional 1,788 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in MSCI by 10.5% in the third quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 36,996 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $20,992,000 after buying an additional 3,510 shares during the last quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV lifted its position in MSCI by 253.0% in the third quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV now owns 3,202 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,817,000 after buying an additional 2,295 shares during the last quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp acquired a new position in MSCI in the third quarter valued at about $1,108,000. Finally, PICTET BANK & TRUST Ltd lifted its position in MSCI by 116.8% in the fourth quarter. PICTET BANK & TRUST Ltd now owns 5,150 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $2,955,000 after buying an additional 2,775 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of MSCI in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. They set a "buy" rating and a $700.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of MSCI from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $650.00 to $700.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of MSCI from $710.00 to $720.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Weiss Ratings raised shares of MSCI from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $655.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and ten have given a Buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, MSCI currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $697.70.

Insider Activity at MSCI

In other MSCI news, CFO Andrew C. Wiechmann sold 450 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owned 22,544 shares in the company, valued at $12,624,640. This represents a 1.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Alvise J. Munari sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $592.04, for a total transaction 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 3.76% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

MSCI Stock Down 1.9%

Shares of NYSE:MSCI opened at $631.38 on Wednesday. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $571.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $567.47. The stock has a market cap of $45.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.24. MSCI Inc has a fifty-two week low of $501.08 and a fifty-two week high of $644.68.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last issued its 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 firm had revenue of $850.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $830.91 million. MSCI had a net margin of 40.74% and a negative return on equity of 65.48%. The firm's revenue was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $4.00 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc will post 19.62 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were issued a $2.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $8.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. MSCI's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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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