Swedbank AB Reduces Stake in MSCI Inc $MSCI

Key Points

• Swedbank AB reduced its holdings in MSCI Inc by 4.2%, now owning 160,200 shares worth approximately $92.4 million.
• MSCI reported a quarterly EPS of $4.17, exceeding estimates, with revenue increasing 9.1% year-over-year to $772.68 million.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.80 per share, translating to an annual yield of 1.3% and a dividend payout ratio of 47.68%.

Swedbank AB decreased its position in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 4.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 160,200 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 6,942 shares during the period. Swedbank AB owned 0.21% of MSCI worth $92,394,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of MSCI by 5.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,376,852 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $5,302,610,000 after acquiring an additional 518,833 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in MSCI by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,626,923 shares of the technology company's stock worth $920,026,000 after purchasing an additional 13,918 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in MSCI by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,008,778 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $570,464,000 after buying an additional 19,846 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of MSCI by 2.6% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 804,640 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $455,024,000 after buying an additional 20,150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 355.7% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 660,690 shares of the technology company's stock worth $365,976,000 after buying an additional 515,713 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on MSCI shares. Raymond James Financial raised shares of MSCI from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $650.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, July 25th. UBS Group raised their price objective on MSCI from $655.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on MSCI from $625.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of MSCI from $578.00 to $533.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, MSCI has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $652.45.

Insider Transactions at MSCI

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 9,916 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 24th. The shares were bought at an average price of $544.70 per share, for a total transaction of $5,401,245.20. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,279,867 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $697,143,554.90. This trade represents a 0.78% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders bought a total of 12,400 shares of company stock valued at $6,731,599 in the last 90 days. 3.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

MSCI Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of MSCI stock traded up $4.05 on Friday, hitting $560.03. The stock had a trading volume of 1,237,050 shares, compared to its average volume of 669,603. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $562.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $558.98. The company has a market cap of $43.32 billion, a PE ratio of 37.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 1.34. MSCI Inc has a one year low of $486.73 and a one year high of $642.45.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The technology company reported $4.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.12 by $0.05. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 143.13% and a net margin of 39.46%.The firm had revenue of $772.68 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $763.06 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.64 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th were paid a $1.80 dividend. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. MSCI's payout ratio is 47.68%.

About MSCI

MSCI Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides critical decision support tools and solutions for the investment community to manage investment processes worldwide. The Index segment provides indexes for use in various areas of the investment process, including indexed financial product, such as ETFs, mutual funds, annuities, futures, options, structured products, and over-the-counter derivatives; performance benchmarking; portfolio construction and rebalancing; and asset allocation, as well as licenses GICS and GICS Direct.