MSCI Inc $MSCI Shares Purchased by Saudi Central Bank

Key Points

• Saudi Central Bank increased its MSCI stake by 79.9% in the second quarter, bringing its holdings to 4,990 shares valued at approximately $2.8 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 89.97% of MSCI.
• Analysts remain broadly bullish, with one Strong Buy and 11 Buy ratings and an average price target of $709.50; recent targets range from $690 to $760.
• MSCI’s latest quarterly results slightly missed expectations, reporting $4.94 in EPS and $867 million in revenue, although revenue rose 12.2% year over year. The company also paid a quarterly dividend of $2.05, equivalent to an annualized yield of 1.4%.

Saudi Central Bank raised its holdings in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 79.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 4,990 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 2,217 shares during the quarter. Saudi Central Bank's holdings in MSCI were worth $2,795,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of MSCI during the fourth quarter valued at about $528,560,000. Retail Employees Superannuation Pty Ltd as trustee for Retail Employees Superannuation Trust bought a new stake in shares of MSCI during the 4th quarter worth about $13,636,000. SBI Okasan Asset Management Co.Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of MSCI during the 4th quarter worth about $1,406,000. MUFG Securities EMEA plc lifted its stake in shares of MSCI by 5,509.7% in the 4th quarter. MUFG Securities EMEA plc now owns 83,080 shares of the technology company's stock worth $47,665,000 after acquiring an additional 81,599 shares during the period. Finally, FourThought Financial Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of MSCI by 19.0% in the 4th quarter. FourThought Financial Partners LLC now owns 11,674 shares of the technology company's stock worth $6,697,000 after acquiring an additional 1,862 shares during the period. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on MSCI shares. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of MSCI from $715.00 to $730.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Raymond James Financial lifted their price target on MSCI from $730.00 to $760.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on MSCI in a research note on Friday, July 17th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $760.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on MSCI from $700.00 to $690.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Evercore set a $722.00 target price on MSCI in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and eleven have issued a Buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $709.50.

MSCI Stock Performance

MSCI opened at $572.27 on Tuesday. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $579.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $575.28. MSCI Inc has a twelve month low of $501.08 and a twelve month high of $644.77. The firm has a market cap of $41.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.31, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.22.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 21st. The technology company reported $4.94 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $4.99 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $867.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $870.71 million. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 55.19% and a net margin of 40.74%.MSCI's revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.17 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc will post 19.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 14th were paid a $2.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 14th. This represents a $8.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. MSCI's dividend payout ratio is 44.86%.

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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