North Dakota State Investment Board Buys Shares of 2,577 MSCI Inc $MSCI

Key Points

• North Dakota State Investment Board opened a new position in MSCI during the fourth quarter, buying 2,577 shares valued at about $1.48 million.
• Institutional ownership remains very high, with hedge funds and other investors holding about 89.97% of MSCI shares. Several other firms also increased their stakes in the company.
• Analysts remain generally bullish on MSCI, with a Moderate Buy consensus and a consensus price target of $692.70, even as one rating was recently cut to Hold.

North Dakota State Investment Board purchased a new stake in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 2,577 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $1,479,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Elyxium Wealth LLC purchased a new position in MSCI during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. iA Global Asset Management Inc. raised its position in MSCI by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,183 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $5,842,000 after purchasing an additional 479 shares during the last quarter. May Hill Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of MSCI during the 4th quarter worth approximately $241,000. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan grew its holdings in shares of MSCI by 27.0% during the 4th quarter. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan now owns 1,928 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,106,000 after acquiring an additional 410 shares during the period. Finally, DNB Asset Management AS grew its stake in shares of MSCI by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 15,039 shares of the technology company's stock worth $8,628,000 after buying an additional 642 shares during the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $730.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of MSCI in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Weiss Ratings cut MSCI from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Bank of America assumed coverage on MSCI in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $700.00 price target for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on MSCI from $719.00 to $727.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $692.70.

MSCI Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of MSCI stock opened at $578.89 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $42.14 billion, a PE ratio of 33.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.24. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $562.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $565.96. MSCI Inc has a 52-week low of $501.08 and a 52-week high of $626.28.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.38 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $850.80 million during 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 company's revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.00 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc will post 19.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Alvise J. Munari sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $592.04, for a total transaction of $5,920,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 23,548 shares in the company, valued at $13,941,357.92. This represents a 29.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 value of $252,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 22,544 shares in the company, 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. 3.76% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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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