Lombard Odier Asset Management Europe Ltd Decreases Stake in MSCI Inc $MSCI

Key Points

• Lombard Odier Asset Management Europe Ltd cut its MSCI stake by 86.6% in the fourth quarter, selling 72,402 shares and leaving it with 11,228 shares worth about $6.44 million.
• MSCI reported strong quarterly results, beating earnings and revenue expectations with EPS of $4.55 and revenue of $850.8 million, up 14.1% year over year.
• Analysts remain broadly bullish on the stock, with a consensus Buy rating and average price target of $697.70, while MSCI also paid a quarterly dividend of $2.05 per share.

Lombard Odier Asset Management Europe Ltd lowered its position in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 86.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 11,228 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 72,402 shares during the quarter. Lombard Odier Asset Management Europe Ltd's holdings in MSCI were worth $6,442,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MSCI. Aviso Financial Inc. lifted its stake in MSCI by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Aviso Financial Inc. now owns 859 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $487,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of MSCI by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 375 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $215,000 after buying an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of MSCI by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC now owns 568 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $326,000 after buying an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Keel Point LLC raised its position in shares of MSCI by 3.0% in the third quarter. Keel Point LLC now owns 622 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $353,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP raised its position in shares of MSCI by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,074 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $616,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. 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. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of MSCI from $719.00 to $727.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of MSCI from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $650.00 to $700.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $655.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of MSCI from $710.00 to $720.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and ten have given a Buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $697.70.

MSCI Price Performance

Shares of MSCI opened at $608.22 on Wednesday. MSCI Inc has a 1-year low of $501.08 and a 1-year high of $644.68. The stock has a market cap of $44.28 billion, a PE ratio of 34.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.24. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $587.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $571.12.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $4.38 by $0.17. MSCI had a net margin of 40.74% and a negative return on equity of 65.48%. The business had revenue of $850.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $830.91 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $4.00 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that MSCI Inc will post 19.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The company 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. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $8.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. MSCI's payout ratio is currently 46.83%.

Insider Transactions at MSCI

In related news, insider Alvise J. Munari sold 10,000 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at $13,941,357.92. The trade was a 29.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 3.76% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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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