Madison Asset Management LLC Sells 15,178 Shares of MSCI Inc $MSCI

Key Points

• Madison Asset Management cut its MSCI stake by 21.5% in the fourth quarter, selling 15,178 shares and leaving it with 55,494 shares valued at about $31.8 million.
• Institutional ownership remains high, with several large investors increasing their positions, and institutions overall holding about 89.97% of MSCI’s stock.
• MSCI reported strong quarterly results, beating EPS and revenue estimates, while analysts remain generally positive with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $692.70.

Madison Asset Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 21.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 55,494 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 15,178 shares during the quarter. Madison Asset Management LLC owned about 0.07% of MSCI worth $31,839,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in MSCI by 499.3% during the third quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 874,882 shares of the technology company's stock worth $496,417,000 after acquiring an additional 728,900 shares during the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. grew its position in shares of MSCI by 91.8% in the third quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 691,554 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $392,395,000 after purchasing an additional 331,040 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of MSCI by 36.0% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,069,180 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $606,674,000 after purchasing an additional 282,859 shares during the last quarter. Banque Pictet & Cie SA increased its stake in shares of MSCI by 103.3% during the fourth quarter. Banque Pictet & Cie SA now owns 523,035 shares of the technology company's stock worth $300,081,000 after purchasing an additional 265,750 shares during the period. Finally, Bamco Inc. NY lifted its holdings in MSCI by 10.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 2,394,117 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,358,446,000 after purchasing an additional 223,784 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSCI has been the subject of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on MSCI from $719.00 to $727.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. UBS Group increased their price objective on MSCI from $710.00 to $720.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Weiss Ratings cut shares of MSCI from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of MSCI from $545.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $715.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, MSCI has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $692.70.

MSCI Price Performance

MSCI stock opened at $581.64 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $42.34 billion, a PE ratio of 33.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.24. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $562.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $565.40. MSCI Inc has a one year low of $501.08 and a one year high of $626.28.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last released its 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 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 the consensus estimate of $830.91 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $4.00 EPS. The company's revenue was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that MSCI Inc will post 19.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 29th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $2.05 per share. 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 dividend payout ratio is currently 46.83%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MSCI news, CFO Andrew C. Wiechmann sold 450 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $560.00, for a total transaction of $252,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 22,544 shares in the company, valued at $12,624,640. This represents a 1.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Alvise J. Munari sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 23,548 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,941,357.92. This represents a 29.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate 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.

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