Capital World Investors Boosts Stock Position in MSCI Inc $MSCI

Key Points

• Capital World Investors increased its stake in MSCI by 16.0% during Q3 to 89,731 shares worth about $50.9 million, and institutional investors now own roughly 89.97% of the company.
• CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 6,000 shares at $524.18 on Feb. 13, raising his total holding to 1,493,047 shares and contributing to insiders owning 3.31% of MSCI.
• Analysts are broadly positive with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target of $671.78 (nine Buys vs. two Holds), and MSCI raised its quarterly dividend to $2.05 ($8.20 annual, ~1.5% yield).

Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 16.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 89,731 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 12,406 shares during the quarter. Capital World Investors owned 0.12% of MSCI worth $50,915,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its holdings in MSCI by 23.1% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 146,969 shares of the technology company's stock worth $83,392,000 after purchasing an additional 27,577 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in MSCI by 8.9% in the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 632,026 shares of the technology company's stock worth $358,618,000 after acquiring an additional 51,901 shares in the last quarter. LGT Group Foundation increased its position in shares of MSCI by 26.9% during the 3rd quarter. LGT Group Foundation now owns 11,929 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $6,592,000 after purchasing an additional 2,528 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group increased its position in MSCI by 0.6% during the third quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 122,658 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $69,597,000 after acquiring an additional 759 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nutshell Asset Management Ltd raised its position in MSCI by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Nutshell Asset Management Ltd now owns 15,553 shares of the technology company's stock worth $8,825,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The shares were bought at an average price of $524.18 per share, with a total value of $3,145,080.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 1,493,047 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $782,625,376.46. This represents a 0.40% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 3.31% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded MSCI from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Bank of America assumed coverage on MSCI in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. They set a "buy" rating and a $700.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of MSCI from $590.00 to $618.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $715.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $690.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, MSCI presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $671.78.

MSCI Stock Down 1.9%

MSCI stock opened at $536.64 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $568.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $565.04. MSCI Inc has a 52 week low of $486.73 and a 52 week high of $626.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.29.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The technology company reported $4.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.62 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $822.53 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $819.51 million. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 82.59% and a net margin of 38.36%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $4.18 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 13th were paid a $2.05 dividend. This is a positive change from MSCI's previous quarterly dividend of $1.80. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 13th. This represents a $8.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. MSCI's dividend payout ratio is 52.26%.

MSCI Company 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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