K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc Cuts Position in MSCI Inc $MSCI

Key Points

• K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc cut its MSCI position by 54.7% in the first quarter, selling 3,000 shares and ending with 2,484 shares worth about $1.34 million.
• MSCI continues to attract mostly bullish Wall Street sentiment, with a consensus Buy rating and an average price target of $697 despite a small downgrade from Weiss Ratings.
• The company reported better-than-expected earnings for the quarter, beating EPS and revenue estimates, while also paying a $2.05 quarterly dividend that works out to an annualized yield of about 1.4%.

K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc decreased its position in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 54.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,484 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 3,000 shares during the quarter. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc's holdings in MSCI were worth $1,339,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSCI. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of MSCI by 341.7% during the 4th quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC now owns 53 shares of the technology company's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in MSCI during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in MSCI during the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Elyxium Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of MSCI during the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, SHP Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of MSCI during the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MSCI shares. Raymond James Financial reissued a "strong-buy" rating and set a $730.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of MSCI from $710.00 to $720.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $655.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of MSCI from $719.00 to $727.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut MSCI from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Monday, June 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and ten have assigned a Buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $697.00.

Insider Transactions at MSCI

In other MSCI news, insider Alvise J. Munari sold 10,000 shares of the company's 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 completion of the transaction, the insider owned 23,548 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,941,357.92. This represents a 29.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 3.76% of the company's stock.

MSCI Stock Down 0.0%

MSCI opened at $603.00 on Friday. MSCI Inc has a 52 week low of $501.08 and a 52 week high of $644.68. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $591.86 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $573.75. The company has a market cap of $43.90 billion, a PE ratio of 34.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 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 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 company had revenue of $850.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $830.91 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $4.00 EPS. The company's revenue was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that MSCI Inc will post 19.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th were paid a $2.05 dividend. This represents a $8.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. MSCI's payout ratio is currently 46.83%.

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.

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