HighTower Advisors LLC Sells 10,400 Shares of MSCI Inc $MSCI

Key Points

• HighTower Advisors reduced its MSCI stake by 13.5% in the second quarter, selling 10,400 shares and retaining 66,746 shares worth approximately $37.4 million. Institutional investors collectively own 89.97% of MSCI.
• Analysts remain bullish, with MSCI receiving an average “Buy” rating and an average price target of $709.50; several firms recently raised their targets.
• MSCI shares opened at $550.33, down 4.0%, after the company reported quarterly EPS of $4.94—slightly below estimates—and revenue of $867 million, up 12.2% year over year. The company also paid a quarterly dividend of $2.05 per share.

HighTower Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 13.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 66,746 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 10,400 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.09% of MSCI worth $37,381,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new stake in shares of MSCI during the 2nd quarter worth about $42,238,000. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 52,714.5% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 60,176,298 shares of the technology company's stock worth $33,701,134,000 after acquiring an additional 60,062,359 shares during the period. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of MSCI in the second quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of MSCI in the second quarter valued at approximately $83,000. Finally, Saudi Central Bank increased its stake in shares of MSCI by 79.9% during the second quarter. Saudi Central Bank now owns 4,990 shares of the technology company's stock worth $2,795,000 after purchasing an additional 2,217 shares during the period. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSCI has been the subject of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on MSCI from $700.00 to $742.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $700.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Raymond James Financial upped their price target on shares of MSCI from $730.00 to $760.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of MSCI from $715.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Evercore set a $722.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $709.50.

MSCI Stock Down 4.0%

MSCI opened at $550.33 on Wednesday. MSCI Inc has a twelve month low of $501.08 and a twelve month high of $644.77. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $579.58 and a 200 day simple moving average of $575.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.22.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The technology company reported $4.94 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.99 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $867.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $870.71 million. MSCI had a net margin of 40.74% and a negative return on equity of 55.19%. MSCI's quarterly revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $4.17 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc will post 19.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 14th were paid a dividend of $2.05 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 14th. This represents a $8.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. MSCI's dividend payout ratio is presently 44.86%.

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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