M&T Bank Corp Sells 3,346 Shares of MSCI Inc $MSCI

Key Points

• M&T Bank Corp trimmed its stake in MSCI by 37.9%, selling 3,346 shares in Q4 and leaving it with 5,492 shares valued at about $3.15 million.
• Analysts hold an average "Buy" rating on MSCI with an average price target of $692.70, and several firms have recently raised their targets.
• MSCI beat quarterly expectations (EPS $4.55 vs $4.38 est.; revenue $850.8M vs $830.9M), announced a quarterly dividend of $2.05 per share, and the CEO bought 800 shares, indicating insider confidence.

M&T Bank Corp trimmed its holdings in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 37.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,492 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 3,346 shares during the quarter. M&T Bank Corp's holdings in MSCI were worth $3,151,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MSCI. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in MSCI by 7.6% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 2,003 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,133,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP boosted its stake in MSCI by 39.0% in the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 6,585 shares of the technology company's stock worth $3,724,000 after purchasing an additional 1,846 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in MSCI by 20.9% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,052 shares of the technology company's stock worth $607,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its stake in MSCI by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 35,130 shares of the technology company's stock worth $20,261,000 after purchasing an additional 344 shares during the period. Finally, Osterweis Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in MSCI in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $88,000. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on MSCI. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a "buy" rating and issued a $715.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on MSCI from $545.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Bank of America assumed coverage on MSCI in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. They set a "buy" rating and a $700.00 target price for the company. Evercore increased their target price on MSCI from $655.00 to $690.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $655.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $692.70.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $518.95 per share, for a total transaction of $415,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,493,847 shares in the company, valued at $775,231,900.65. This represents a 0.05% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Andrew C. Wiechmann sold 450 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $560.00, for a total value of $252,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 22,544 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,624,640. This represents a 1.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 3.76% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

MSCI Stock Performance

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. MSCI Inc has a one year low of $501.08 and a one year high of $626.28. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $555.18 and a 200-day moving average price of $562.56.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $830.91 million. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 65.48% and a net margin of 40.74%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $4.00 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that MSCI Inc will post 19.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

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

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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