PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab Acquires Shares of 35,129 MSCI Inc $MSCI

Key Points

• PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab acquired a new stake of 35,129 shares of MSCI in Q4, valued at about $20.45 million.
• Insider activity included CEO Henry A. Fernandez buying 6,000 shares at roughly $524.18 (raising his stake to 1,493,047 shares) while another insider sold 10,000 shares on April 24; institutional investors own about 89.97% of MSCI.
• MSCI beat quarterly expectations with $4.55 EPS and $850.8M revenue (up 14.1% YoY), announced a $2.05 quarterly dividend ($8.20 annualized, 1.4% yield), and carries a consensus "Buy" rating with an average target of $692.70.

PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab acquired a new stake in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 35,129 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $20,454,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of MSCI by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,777,749 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,008,745,000 after acquiring an additional 109,287 shares during the period. Katamaran Capital LLP boosted its stake in MSCI by 57.1% during the 3rd quarter. Katamaran Capital LLP now owns 4,919 shares of the technology company's stock worth $2,791,000 after purchasing an additional 1,788 shares during the period. Dash Acquisitions Inc. boosted its stake in MSCI by 103.6% during the 3rd quarter. Dash Acquisitions Inc. now owns 14,958 shares of the technology company's stock worth $8,490,000 after purchasing an additional 7,613 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in MSCI by 37.7% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 12,228 shares of the technology company's stock worth $6,938,000 after purchasing an additional 3,346 shares during the period. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in MSCI by 10.5% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 36,996 shares of the technology company's stock worth $20,992,000 after purchasing an additional 3,510 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at MSCI

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 6,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $524.18 per share, with a total value of $3,145,080.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 1,493,047 shares in the company, valued at approximately $782,625,376.46. This represents a 0.40% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Alvise J. Munari sold 10,000 shares of the 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 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. 3.76% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

MSCI Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of NYSE:MSCI opened at $589.11 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $42.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.64, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.24. MSCI Inc has a 52 week low of $501.08 and a 52 week high of $626.28. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $558.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $563.51.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last announced 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. MSCI had a net margin of 40.74% and a negative return on equity of 65.48%. The firm had revenue of $850.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $830.91 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $4.00 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that MSCI Inc will post 19.62 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be issued a $2.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. This represents a $8.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. MSCI's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.83%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on MSCI shares. Bank of America started coverage on shares of MSCI in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. They set a "buy" rating and a $700.00 price target for the company. Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of MSCI in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of MSCI from $719.00 to $727.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Raymond James Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating and set a $730.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $715.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $692.70.

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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