MSCI Inc $MSCI Shares Purchased by Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc.

Key Points

• Envestnet Portfolio Solutions sharply increased its stake in MSCI, lifting holdings by 422% in Q4 to 4,922 shares worth about $2.8 million.
• Institutional ownership remains very high, with major firms like Vanguard, State Street, and JPMorgan also adding to their positions; institutions and hedge funds own 89.97% of MSCI.
• MSCI beat first-quarter earnings expectations, reporting $4.55 EPS on revenue of $850.8 million, while analysts continue to be bullish with a consensus Buy rating and average target price of $692.70.

Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its holdings in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 422.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,922 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 3,979 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc.'s holdings in MSCI were worth $2,824,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of MSCI by 1.7% during 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 acquiring an additional 165,851 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in MSCI by 1.2% during the third 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 raised its stake in MSCI by 10.3% during the third 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 period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in MSCI by 6.6% during the third 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 period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in MSCI by 36.0% in the 3rd 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. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at MSCI

In related news, 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 value of $5,920,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 23,548 shares in the company, valued at $13,941,357.92. This trade represents a 29.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Andrew C. Wiechmann sold 450 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $560.00, for a total transaction of $252,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 22,544 shares in the company, valued at $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 owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSCI has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America started coverage on MSCI in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. They set a "buy" rating and a $700.00 target price for the company. Evercore upped their price target on MSCI from $655.00 to $690.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note 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. Weiss Ratings raised shares of MSCI from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of MSCI in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $692.70.

MSCI Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of NYSE:MSCI opened at $588.97 on Friday. MSCI Inc has a fifty-two week low of $501.08 and a fifty-two week high of $626.28. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $564.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $566.08. The stock has a market cap of $42.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.24.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The technology company reported $4.55 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $850.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $830.91 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $4.00 earnings per share. MSCI's revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc will post 19.62 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

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

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.

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