MSCI Inc $MSCI Shares Acquired by FourThought Financial Partners LLC

Key Points

• FourThought Financial Partners LLC increased its MSCI stake by 19% in the fourth quarter, adding 1,862 shares to reach 11,674 shares worth about $6.7 million.
• MSCI reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $4.55 versus $4.38 expected and revenue of $850.8 million, up 14.1% year over year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $2.05 per share, and analysts remain bullish overall, with a consensus Buy rating and average price target of $692.70.

FourThought Financial Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 19.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 11,674 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 1,862 shares during the quarter. FourThought Financial Partners LLC's holdings in MSCI were worth $6,697,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in MSCI by 1.7% in 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 purchasing an additional 165,851 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of MSCI by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,320,761 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,884,233,000 after purchasing an additional 39,450 shares during the last quarter. Bamco Inc. NY increased its position 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 worth $1,358,446,000 after purchasing an additional 223,784 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of MSCI by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,777,749 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,008,745,000 after purchasing an additional 109,287 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of MSCI by 36.0% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,069,180 shares of the technology company's stock worth $606,674,000 after purchasing an additional 282,859 shares during the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MSCI Price Performance

Shares of MSCI stock opened at $583.07 on Thursday. The business's fifty day moving average price is $562.77 and its 200 day moving average price is $565.96. MSCI Inc has a 1-year low of $501.08 and a 1-year high of $626.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.45 billion, a PE ratio of 33.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.24.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The technology company reported $4.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.38 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $850.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $830.91 million. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 65.48% and a net margin of 40.74%.MSCI's quarterly revenue was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $4.00 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that MSCI Inc will post 19.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $2.05 per share. This represents a $8.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. MSCI's payout ratio is presently 46.83%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of MSCI in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Raymond James Financial reissued a "strong-buy" rating and set a $730.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Evercore raised their price objective on MSCI from $655.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. UBS Group raised 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on MSCI from $719.00 to $727.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, MSCI presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $692.70.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MSCI news, insider Alvise J. Munari sold 10,000 shares of the business'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 sale, the insider directly owned 23,548 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,941,357.92. The trade was a 29.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Andrew C. Wiechmann sold 450 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $560.00, for a total value of $252,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 22,544 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,624,640. The trade was a 1.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 3.76% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.