Fiera Capital Corp Sells 30,811 Shares of MSCI Inc $MSCI

Key Points

• Fiera Capital Corp trimmed its MSCI stake by 3.1% in the fourth quarter, selling 30,811 shares and still holding 962,626 shares valued at about $552.3 million.
• MSCI insiders also sold shares recently, including Alvise J. Munari and CFO Andrew C. Wiechmann, while institutional investors continue to own nearly 90% of the company.
• MSCI reported better-than-expected Q1 results, with EPS of $4.55 and revenue of $850.8 million, and analysts remain upbeat with a Buy consensus and an average target price of $697.70.

Fiera Capital Corp decreased its position in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 3.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 962,626 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 30,811 shares during the quarter. MSCI makes up approximately 1.8% of Fiera Capital Corp's portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Fiera Capital Corp owned 1.31% of MSCI worth $552,287,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Katamaran Capital LLP raised its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,788 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 3,510 shares during the period. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV raised its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 2,295 shares during the period. PICTET BANK & TRUST Ltd raised its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 2,775 shares during the period. Finally, Vinva Investment Management Ltd raised its position in shares of MSCI by 34.3% in the third quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 80,689 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $45,981,000 after purchasing an additional 20,606 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MSCI news, insider Alvise J. Munari sold 10,000 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider owned 23,548 shares in the company, valued at $13,941,357.92. The trade was a 29.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Andrew C. Wiechmann sold 450 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $560.00, for a total transaction of $252,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 22,544 shares in the company, valued at $12,624,640. This represents a 1.96% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 3.76% of the stock is owned by insiders.

MSCI Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of MSCI stock opened at $616.28 on Monday. MSCI Inc has a 1 year low of $501.08 and a 1 year high of $644.68. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $578.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $568.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.24.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last announced its 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 net margin of 40.74% and a negative return on equity of 65.48%. The business had revenue of $850.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $830.91 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.00 earnings per share. MSCI's revenue was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate 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 dividend of $2.05 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $8.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. MSCI's payout ratio is currently 46.83%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSCI has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group boosted their target price 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. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $655.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of MSCI from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $650.00 to $700.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating and set a $730.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of MSCI from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and ten have issued a Buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, MSCI presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $697.70.

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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