Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Sells 1,400 Shares of MSCI Inc $MSCI

Key Points

• The Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund reduced its stake in MSCI Inc by 11.4%, holding a position valued at $6.17 million after selling 1,400 shares in Q1.
• Institutional investors now hold 89.97% of MSCI's stock, with significant increases from companies like Vanguard Group, GAMMA Investing, and Bank Julius Baer & Co.
• MSCI reported quarterly earnings surpassing expectations, with a revenue increase of 9.1% year-over-year, and has announced a quarterly dividend of $1.80 per share.

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund lessened its position in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 11.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,910 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 1,400 shares during the period. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund's holdings in MSCI were worth $6,170,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its position in shares of MSCI by 2,666.7% in the 1st quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 83 shares of the technology company's stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. National Pension Service increased its stake in MSCI by 7.6% during the 1st quarter. National Pension Service now owns 175,626 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $99,317,000 after purchasing an additional 12,371 shares in the last quarter. LGT Group Foundation grew its stake in shares of MSCI by 1.1% in the first quarter. LGT Group Foundation now owns 9,562 shares of the technology company's stock worth $5,407,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its stake in shares of MSCI by 20.2% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 408,142 shares of the technology company's stock worth $230,639,000 after acquiring an additional 68,616 shares during the period. Finally, Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of MSCI by 4.8% in the first quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 25,578 shares of the technology company's stock worth $14,431,000 after acquiring an additional 1,175 shares during the period. 89.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MSCI Stock Up 0.7%

NYSE:MSCI traded up $3.86 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $572.02. 284,222 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 604,579. MSCI Inc has a 1 year low of $486.73 and a 1 year high of $642.45. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $562.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $560.54. The company has a market cap of $44.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.29.

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

MSCI Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at MSCI

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Oppenheimer reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of MSCI from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $650.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of MSCI from $673.00 to $631.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of MSCI from $650.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of MSCI from $578.00 to $533.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $654.73.

MSCI Profile

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.