Savant Capital LLC Has $217,000 Stock Holdings in MSCI Inc $MSCI

Key Points

• Savant Capital LLC sharply cut its MSCI stake by 86.3% in the fourth quarter, leaving it with 379 shares worth about $217,000.
• MSCI’s stock has seen continued interest from large investors and insiders, with institutional ownership at 89.97% and several executives recently selling shares, including a 10,000-share sale by insider Alvise J. Munari.
• Analysts remain upbeat on MSCI, with a Buy consensus and an average price target of $697.70; the company also beat earnings expectations in its latest quarter and pays a quarterly dividend of $2.05.

Savant Capital LLC trimmed its position in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 86.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 379 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 2,392 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC's holdings in MSCI were worth $217,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of MSCI by 7.6% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 2,003 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,133,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP raised its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,846 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 344 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Osterweis Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of MSCI in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $88,000. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at MSCI

In related news, insider Alvise J. Munari sold 10,000 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 24th. The stock was 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 approximately $13,941,357.92. This trade represents a 29.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Andrew C. Wiechmann sold 450 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $560.00, for a total value of $252,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 22,544 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,624,640. The trade was a 1.96% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 3.76% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on MSCI shares. 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. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $655.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Bank of America assumed coverage on MSCI in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $700.00 price objective on the stock. Raymond James Financial restated a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $730.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on MSCI from $719.00 to $727.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and ten have assigned a Buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $697.70.

MSCI Price Performance

MSCI opened at $616.28 on Monday. The business's 50-day moving average price is $578.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $568.93. MSCI Inc has a 1 year low of $501.08 and a 1 year high of $644.68. The company has a market capitalization of $44.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.24.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 65.48% and a net margin of 40.74%.The firm had revenue of $850.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $830.91 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $4.00 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc will post 19.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were given a $2.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $8.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. MSCI's payout ratio is currently 46.83%.

About MSCI

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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