MSCI Inc $MSCI Shares Sold by Alps Advisors Inc.

Key Points

• Alps Advisors cut its MSCI stake by 33.9% in the third quarter, selling 3,148 shares and retaining 6,142 shares worth about $3.3 million.
• MSCI reported quarterly earnings of $5.11 per share, above the $5.03 consensus, while revenue rose 12.4% year over year to $892 million.
• Analysts’ consensus rating is “Moderate Buy,” with an average price target of $683.69. Two company executives also reported stock sales, including the CFO, whose sale was made under a pre-arranged trading plan.

Alps Advisors Inc. reduced its position in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 33.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,142 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 3,148 shares during the period. Alps Advisors Inc.'s holdings in MSCI were worth $3,308,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of MSCI by 2.0% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 280,912 shares of the technology company's stock worth $151,401,000 after buying an additional 5,469 shares during the period. Andra AP fonden lifted its holdings in MSCI by 477.6% in the second quarter. Andra AP fonden now owns 15,480 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $8,669,000 after buying an additional 12,800 shares during the period. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC acquired a new position in MSCI in the second quarter valued at $1,069,000. Corient Private Wealth LP acquired a new position in MSCI in the second quarter valued at $8,644,000. Finally, Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc bought a new stake in MSCI during the second quarter valued at $8,118,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Andrew C. Wiechmann sold 450 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $570.00, for a total value of $256,500.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 21,644 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,337,080. The trade was a 2.04% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, General Counsel Robert J. Gutowski sold 2,381 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $623.66, for a total transaction of $1,484,934.46. Following the transaction, the general counsel owned 14,104 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,796,100.64. This represents a 14.44% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Company insiders own 3.76% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on MSCI shares. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $680.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, October 21st. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised their target price on MSCI from $670.00 to $680.00 in a research note on Monday, October 26th. William Blair set a $680.00 target price on MSCI in a report on Tuesday, October 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on MSCI from $729.00 to $684.00 in a report on Friday, October 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, October 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $683.69.

MSCI Stock Performance

MSCI stock opened at $646.26 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $46.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 1.20. MSCI Inc has a fifty-two week low of $501.08 and a fifty-two week high of $681.04. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $577.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $575.26.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 20th. The technology company reported $5.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.03 by $0.08. MSCI had a net margin of 40.31% and a negative return on equity of 50.69%. The firm had revenue of $892.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $887.83 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $4.47 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that MSCI Inc will post 19.59 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 13th will be issued a $2.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 13th. This represents a $8.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. MSCI's dividend payout ratio is currently 43.41%.

MSCI Profile

MSCI Inc is a global provider of investment decision-support tools and services for asset managers, banks, insurers, pension funds and other financial institutions. Its offerings include indexes used to benchmark and develop investment products, as well as portfolio risk, performance and attribution analytics.

The company also provides environmental, social and governance data and research, climate-related tools, and analytics covering private assets and real estate. These products help clients assess investments, manage portfolios and evaluate risks across public and private markets.

MSCI traces its origins to Capital International, whose indexes were introduced in 1969.

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