ProShare Advisors LLC Purchases 2,826 Shares of MSCI Inc $MSCI

Key Points

• ProShare Advisors LLC increased its MSCI stake by 18.1% in the fourth quarter, buying 2,826 additional shares and bringing its total holdings to 18,428 shares worth about $10.6 million.
• MSCI reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $4.55 versus estimates of $4.38 and revenue of $850.8 million, up 14.1% year over year. The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $2.05 per share, or $8.20 annualized.
• Wall Street remains broadly positive on MSCI, with an average Buy rating and a consensus price target of $692.70. Recent insider selling included moves by CFO Andrew C. Wiechmann and insider Alvise J. Munari.

ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its position in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 18.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,428 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,826 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC's holdings in MSCI were worth $10,573,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MSCI. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in MSCI by 7.6% in the first 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 grew its holdings in MSCI by 39.0% in the first 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 grew its holdings in MSCI by 20.9% in the second 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 grew its holdings in MSCI by 1.0% in the second 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. purchased a new stake in MSCI in the second quarter worth about $88,000. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on MSCI shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of MSCI from $545.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $655.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded MSCI from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Monday. UBS Group raised their price target on MSCI from $710.00 to $720.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Barclays restated an "overweight" rating on shares of MSCI in a report on Thursday, January 29th. One research 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's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $692.70.

MSCI Price Performance

MSCI stock opened at $582.45 on Friday. MSCI Inc has a one year low of $501.08 and a one year high of $626.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.40 billion, a PE ratio of 33.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.24. The business's fifty day moving average is $563.42 and its 200 day moving average is $565.92.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The technology company reported $4.55 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.38 by $0.17. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 65.48% and a net margin of 40.74%.The company had revenue of $850.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $830.91 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $4.00 earnings per share. MSCI's revenue was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that MSCI Inc will post 19.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. This represents a $8.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. MSCI's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling at MSCI

In related news, CFO Andrew C. Wiechmann sold 450 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $560.00, for a total transaction of $252,000.00. Following the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Alvise J. Munari sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $592.04, for a total value of $5,920,400.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 23,548 shares in the company, valued at $13,941,357.92. This trade represents a 29.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 3.76% of the company's stock.

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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