City Holding Co. Has $235,000 Stock Position in MSCI Inc $MSCI

Key Points

• City Holding Co. cut its stake in MSCI by 82.6% in Q4, selling 1,953 shares and retaining 410 shares worth $235,000.
• MSCI beat Q4 estimates with $4.66 EPS (vs. $4.62 expected) and revenue of $822.5M (up 10.6% YoY), and increased its quarterly dividend to $2.05 ($8.20 annual, ~1.5% yield).
• Analyst sentiment is mixed but overall a “Moderate Buy” with an average target of $665.89, while insider activity included CEO Henry Fernandez buying 800 shares and the CFO selling 450 shares.

City Holding Co. lowered its stake in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 82.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 410 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 1,953 shares during the quarter. City Holding Co.'s holdings in MSCI were worth $235,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MSCI. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI in the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI in the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Strategic Wealth Investment Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI in the second quarter valued at about $36,000. JPL Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI in the third quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Westside Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of MSCI by 100.0% in the third quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 68 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company's stock.

MSCI Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of NYSE:MSCI opened at $537.58 on Friday. MSCI Inc has a 12-month low of $501.08 and a 12-month high of $626.28. The stock has a market cap of $39.50 billion, a PE ratio of 34.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.30. The business has a 50 day moving average of $549.52 and a 200-day moving average of $561.57.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The technology company reported $4.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.62 by $0.04. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 82.59% and a net margin of 38.36%.The company had revenue of $822.53 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $819.51 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $4.18 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 13th were issued a dividend of $2.05 per share. This is a boost from MSCI's previous quarterly dividend of $1.80. This represents a $8.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 13th. MSCI's dividend payout ratio is presently 52.26%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on MSCI from $618.00 to $545.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of MSCI in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Evercore boosted their price target on MSCI from $655.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Weiss Ratings downgraded MSCI from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on MSCI in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. They set a "buy" rating and a $700.00 price target on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $665.89.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 800 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was bought at an average price of $518.95 per share, for a total transaction of $415,160.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,493,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $775,231,900.65. The trade was a 0.05% increase in their position. The transaction 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 business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $560.00, for a total value of $252,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 22,544 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,624,640. This represents a 1.96% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 3.76% of the company's stock.

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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