JPMorgan Chase & Co. Trims Stock Holdings in MSCI Inc $MSCI

Key Points

• JPMorgan Chase cut its MSCI stake by 37.6% in the fourth quarter, selling 401,664 shares and leaving it with 667,516 shares valued at about $383 million.
• MSCI reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings of $4.55 per share on revenue of $850.8 million, with revenue up 14.1% year over year.
• Analysts remain bullish on MSCI, with a consensus Buy rating and an average price target of $697.70; the stock also recently paid a $2.05 quarterly dividend.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased its position in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 37.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 667,516 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 401,664 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned approximately 0.91% of MSCI worth $382,974,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of MSCI during the 4th quarter valued at about $528,560,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of MSCI by 499.3% during the 3rd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 874,882 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $496,417,000 after buying an additional 728,900 shares during the last quarter. Banque Pictet & Cie SA raised its stake in shares of MSCI by 103.3% during the 4th quarter. Banque Pictet & Cie SA now owns 523,035 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $300,081,000 after buying an additional 265,750 shares during the last quarter. Bamco Inc. NY raised its stake in shares of MSCI by 10.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 2,394,117 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,358,446,000 after buying an additional 223,784 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of MSCI by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,674,093 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $5,489,177,000 after buying an additional 165,851 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company's stock.

MSCI Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of MSCI stock opened at $608.98 on Thursday. MSCI Inc has a twelve month low of $501.08 and a twelve month high of $644.68. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $582.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $569.94. The firm has a market cap of $44.33 billion, a PE ratio of 34.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.24.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The technology company reported $4.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.38 by $0.17. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 65.48% and a net margin of 40.74%.The firm had revenue of $850.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $830.91 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $4.00 EPS. MSCI's revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that MSCI Inc will post 19.62 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were paid a $2.05 dividend. This represents a $8.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. MSCI's payout ratio is currently 46.83%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Andrew C. Wiechmann sold 450 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $560.00, for a total value of $252,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 22,544 shares in the company, valued at $12,624,640. The trade was a 1.96% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Alvise J. Munari sold 10,000 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $592.04, for a total value of $5,920,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 23,548 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,941,357.92. This represents a 29.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 3.76% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSCI has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded MSCI from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Bank of America initiated coverage on MSCI in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. They set a "buy" rating and a $700.00 price objective for the company. Raymond James Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating and set a $730.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on MSCI from $719.00 to $727.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded MSCI from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $650.00 to $700.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and ten have assigned a Buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $697.70.

MSCI Company 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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