MSCI Inc $MSCI Shares Sold by Flossbach Von Storch SE

Key Points

• Flossbach Von Storch SE trimmed its stake in MSCI by 1.5% in Q4, selling 3,307 shares and leaving it with 223,465 shares (about $128.2M, or 0.30% of the company).
• MSCI beat quarterly expectations with $4.55 EPS (vs. $4.38 est.) and revenue of $850.8M, up 14.1% year-over-year, and reported strong profitability (net margin 40.74%).
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $2.05 per share (annualized $8.20, 1.4% yield; ex-dividend May 15), CEO Henry Fernandez bought 6,000 shares, and analysts maintain a consensus "Buy" rating with an average target of about $692.70.

Flossbach Von Storch SE lowered its position in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 223,465 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 3,307 shares during the period. Flossbach Von Storch SE owned 0.30% of MSCI worth $128,209,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. purchased a new position in shares of MSCI in the third quarter worth about $27,000. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in MSCI during the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in MSCI by 341.7% in the 4th quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC now owns 53 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in MSCI in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Strategic Wealth Investment Group LLC purchased a new position in MSCI in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company's stock.

MSCI Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MSCI opened at $590.81 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $43.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $555.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $562.56. MSCI Inc has a 1 year low of $501.08 and a 1 year high of $626.28.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The technology company reported $4.55 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.38 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $850.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $830.91 million. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 65.48% and a net margin of 40.74%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.00 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that MSCI Inc will post 19.61 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 6,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The shares were bought at an average price of $524.18 per share, with a total value of $3,145,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,493,047 shares of the company's stock, valued at $782,625,376.46. This represents a 0.40% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Andrew C. Wiechmann sold 450 shares of the 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 directly owned 22,544 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,624,640. This trade represents a 1.96% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 3.76% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MSCI. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on MSCI from $719.00 to $727.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $655.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a "buy" rating and set a $715.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Raymond James Financial restated a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $730.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on MSCI from $710.00 to $720.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. 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 data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $692.70.

About MSCI

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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