Raiffeisen Bank International AG Lowers Holdings in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI)

Key Points

• Raiffeisen Bank International AG reduced its stake in MSCI Inc by 35.3%, selling 60,927 shares and now holding 111,547 shares, which represents about 1% of its investment portfolio.
• Several institutional investors, including Bessemer Group Inc and Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich, significantly increased their stakes in MSCI, indicating strong institutional interest in the company.
• MSCI recently announced a quarterly dividend of $1.80 per share, with an annualized payout of $7.20 and a yield of 1.3%, highlighting its commitment to returning value to shareholders.

Raiffeisen Bank International AG lowered its holdings in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 35.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 111,547 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 60,927 shares during the period. MSCI comprises about 1.0% of Raiffeisen Bank International AG's investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest position. Raiffeisen Bank International AG owned 0.14% of MSCI worth $62,296,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Menard Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of MSCI in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Olde Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of MSCI in the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in MSCI by 136.4% during the 1st quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 52 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. increased its stake in MSCI by 50.0% during the 1st quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 66 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Johnson Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in MSCI by 293.8% during the 4th quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 63 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company's stock.

MSCI Price Performance

Shares of MSCI stock traded down $7.12 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $564.92. The company had a trading volume of 142,539 shares, compared to its average volume of 600,500. MSCI Inc has a 52-week low of $486.73 and a 52-week high of $642.45. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $563.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $564.45. The company has a market capitalization of $43.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.29.

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

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be given a $1.80 dividend. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. MSCI's payout ratio is currently 47.68%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 84 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The shares were bought at an average price of $548.69 per share, for a total transaction of $46,089.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,279,951 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $702,296,314.19. This trade represents a 0.01% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders have acquired a total of 12,400 shares of company stock valued at $6,731,599 in the last quarter. Insiders own 3.31% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSCI has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of MSCI from $655.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $675.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of MSCI from $650.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Bank of America began coverage on shares of MSCI in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $585.00 price target for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of MSCI from $673.00 to $631.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, MSCI presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $654.73.

MSCI Company Profile

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.