Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Increases Position in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI)

Key Points

• Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in MSCI Inc by 4.7% in Q1, holding 521,378 shares valued at approximately $294.84 million.
• CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 84 shares of MSCI stock recently, increasing his holdings to 1,279,951 shares worth about $702.3 million.
• MSCI declared a quarterly dividend of $1.80, with a yield of 1.3%, to be paid on August 29th, 2023, to shareholders of record on August 15th.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 4.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 521,378 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 23,452 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned 0.67% of MSCI worth $294,839,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MSCI. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 12.2% in the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 19,445 shares of the technology company's stock worth $11,529,000 after purchasing an additional 2,116 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 479,323 shares of the technology company's stock worth $287,599,000 after purchasing an additional 23,029 shares during the period. FIL Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 25,822 shares of the technology company's stock worth $15,493,000 after purchasing an additional 1,014 shares during the period. DRW Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of MSCI in the 4th quarter worth approximately $396,000. Finally, Scotia Capital Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 22.3% in the 4th quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 7,397 shares of the technology company's stock worth $4,438,000 after purchasing an additional 1,348 shares during the period. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MSCI Price Performance

MSCI traded up $1.41 on Tuesday, reaching $550.80. 537,762 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 608,810. MSCI Inc has a fifty-two week low of $486.73 and a fifty-two week high of $642.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.61 billion, a PE ratio of 36.48, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.29. The company's 50-day moving average price is $562.40 and its 200 day moving average price is $562.14.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The technology company reported $4.17 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.12 by $0.05. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 143.13% and a net margin of 39.46%. The firm had revenue of $772.68 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $763.06 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.64 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a $1.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. MSCI's dividend payout ratio is presently 47.68%.

Insider Activity at MSCI

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 84 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $548.69 per share, for a total transaction of $46,089.96. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,279,951 shares in the company, valued at approximately $702,296,314.19. This trade represents a 0.01% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders bought a total of 12,400 shares of company stock valued at $6,731,599 in the last quarter. 3.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSCI has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on MSCI from $578.00 to $533.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Oppenheimer reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on MSCI from $650.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. UBS Group upped their target price on MSCI from $655.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised MSCI from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $650.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, MSCI has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $654.73.

About MSCI

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.