HighTower Advisors LLC Trims Stake in MSCI Inc $MSCI

Key Points

• HighTower Advisors LLC cut its MSCI stake by 4.5% in the fourth quarter, selling 3,820 shares and ending with 80,146 shares valued at about $46.0 million.
• MSCI beat quarterly expectations, reporting earnings of $4.55 per share on revenue of $850.8 million, with revenue rising 14.1% year over year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $2.05 per share, and analysts remain mostly positive, with a consensus Buy rating and average target price of $692.70.

HighTower Advisors LLC reduced its position in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 4.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 80,146 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 3,820 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.11% of MSCI worth $45,982,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MSCI. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in shares of MSCI by 7.6% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 2,003 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,133,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP grew its position in shares of MSCI by 39.0% during the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 6,585 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $3,724,000 after purchasing an additional 1,846 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of MSCI by 20.9% during the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,052 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $607,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its position in shares of MSCI by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 35,130 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $20,261,000 after purchasing an additional 344 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Osterweis Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of MSCI during the 2nd quarter valued at $88,000. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MSCI opened at $582.45 on Friday. MSCI Inc has a 52-week low of $501.08 and a 52-week high of $626.28. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $563.42 and a 200 day moving average of $565.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.40 billion, a PE ratio of 33.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.24.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The technology company reported $4.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.38 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $850.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $830.91 million. MSCI had a net margin of 40.74% and a negative return on equity of 65.48%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.00 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast 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 will be paid on Friday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be paid a $2.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. This represents a $8.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. MSCI's payout ratio is currently 46.83%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of MSCI from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Monday. Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of MSCI in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Raymond James Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $730.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of MSCI in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $700.00 target price for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of MSCI from $545.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $692.70.

Insider Buying and Selling at MSCI

In other MSCI news, CFO Andrew C. Wiechmann sold 450 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $560.00, for a total value of $252,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 22,544 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,624,640. The trade was a 1.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Alvise J. Munari sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $592.04, for a total transaction of $5,920,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 23,548 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,941,357.92. This represents a 29.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 3.76% of the company's stock.

About MSCI

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.