MSCI Inc $MSCI Position Trimmed by BNP Paribas Financial Markets

Key Points

• BNP Paribas Financial Markets cut its MSCI stake by 23.7% in the fourth quarter, selling 31,226 shares and leaving it with 100,710 shares worth about $57.8 million.
• Wall Street remains bullish on MSCI, with several analysts issuing Buy or Overweight ratings and a consensus target price of $697.70.
• MSCI reported solid quarterly results, including EPS of $4.55 and revenue of $850.8 million, both above expectations, while the stock was trading down about 1.9% on the day of the report.

BNP Paribas Financial Markets lowered its stake in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 23.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 100,710 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 31,226 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets owned approximately 0.13% of MSCI worth $57,780,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 341.7% during the fourth quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC now owns 53 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC purchased a new position in MSCI in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Elyxium Wealth LLC purchased a new position in MSCI in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Strategic Wealth Investment Group LLC acquired a new stake in MSCI during the 2nd quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, JPL Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in MSCI during the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on MSCI shares. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $655.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of MSCI from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. 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 note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Raymond James Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating and set a $730.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of MSCI from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $650.00 to $700.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and ten have given a Buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, MSCI presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $697.70.

MSCI Trading Down 1.9%

NYSE MSCI opened at $631.38 on Wednesday. MSCI Inc has a 1-year low of $501.08 and a 1-year high of $644.68. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $571.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $567.47. The company has a market capitalization of $45.96 billion, a PE ratio of 36.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.24.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The technology company reported $4.55 EPS 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $830.91 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $4.00 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that MSCI Inc will post 19.62 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

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 of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $8.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. MSCI's payout ratio is presently 46.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Andrew C. Wiechmann sold 450 shares of MSCI 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 owned 22,544 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,624,640. The trade was a 1.96% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Alvise J. Munari sold 10,000 shares of the company'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 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. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 3.76% of the company's stock.

MSCI 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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