MSCI Inc $MSCI Shares Sold by Intech Investment Management LLC

Key Points

• Intech Investment Management LLC cut its MSCI stake by 63.1% in the fourth quarter, selling 6,654 shares and leaving it with 3,893 shares worth about $2.23 million.
• MSCI reported better-than-expected first-quarter earnings of $4.55 per share on revenue of $850.8 million, with revenue up 14.1% year over year.
• The company also paid a quarterly dividend of $2.05 per share and continues to have strong analyst support, with a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $697.70.

Intech Investment Management LLC lowered its position in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 63.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,893 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 6,654 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC's holdings in MSCI were worth $2,234,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in MSCI by 1.7% in the third 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 period. State Street Corp lifted 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 valued at $1,884,233,000 after acquiring an additional 39,450 shares during the period. Bamco Inc. NY lifted 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 valued at $1,358,446,000 after acquiring an additional 223,784 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted 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 valued at $606,674,000 after acquiring an additional 282,859 shares during the period. Finally, PineStone Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of MSCI by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,000,942 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $574,270,000 after acquiring an additional 39,099 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company's stock.

MSCI Price Performance

Shares of MSCI opened at $614.21 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $574.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $568.12. MSCI Inc has a 1-year low of $501.08 and a 1-year high of $644.68. The stock has a market cap of $44.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.24.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last issued 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. MSCI had a net margin of 40.74% and a negative return on equity of 65.48%. The business had revenue of $850.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $830.91 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $4.00 EPS. The company's revenue was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that MSCI Inc will post 19.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th were paid a dividend of $2.05 per share. This represents a $8.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. MSCI's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Andrew C. Wiechmann sold 450 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $560.00, for a total transaction of $252,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 22,544 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,624,640. This trade represents a 1.96% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Alvise J. Munari sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 23,548 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,941,357.92. This trade represents a 29.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 3.76% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MSCI shares. Raymond James Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating and set a $730.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $655.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of MSCI from $719.00 to $727.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Bank of America started coverage on shares of MSCI in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. They set a "buy" rating and a $700.00 price target for the company. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of MSCI from $710.00 to $720.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and ten have issued a Buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, MSCI presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $697.70.

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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