Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Acquires 6,945 Shares of MSCI Inc $MSCI

Key Points

• Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management increased its stake in MSCI by 20.0%, purchasing 6,945 shares in Q4 to hold 41,630 shares (about 0.06% of the company) valued at roughly $23.9 million.
• Insider Alvise J. Munari sold 10,000 shares at an average price of $592.04 (≈$5.92 million), reducing his position by about 29.8%, while insiders collectively own 3.76% of MSCI.
• MSCI beat Q earnings expectations (EPS $4.55 vs. $4.38 est.; revenue $850.8M vs. $830.9M), announced a $2.05 quarterly dividend ($8.20 annual, 1.4% yield), and holds a consensus analyst rating of Buy with a target near $692.70.

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its holdings in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 20.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 41,630 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 6,945 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd owned approximately 0.06% of MSCI worth $23,884,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in MSCI by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,674,093 shares of the technology company's stock worth $5,489,177,000 after purchasing an additional 165,851 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 1.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,320,761 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,884,233,000 after purchasing an additional 39,450 shares during the period. Bamco Inc. NY lifted its holdings in MSCI by 10.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 2,394,117 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,358,446,000 after buying an additional 223,784 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in MSCI by 6.6% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,777,749 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,008,745,000 after acquiring an additional 109,287 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of MSCI by 36.0% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,069,180 shares of the technology company's stock worth $606,674,000 after purchasing an additional 282,859 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $655.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Bank of America began coverage on shares of MSCI in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. They set a "buy" rating and a $700.00 target price on the stock. Evercore upped their target price on shares of MSCI from $655.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating and set a $730.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of MSCI from $710.00 to $720.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $692.70.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Alvise J. Munari sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Andrew C. Wiechmann sold 450 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 22,544 shares in the company, valued at $12,624,640. This trade represents a 1.96% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 3.76% of the company's stock.

MSCI Price Performance

NYSE MSCI opened at $580.78 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.17, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.24. MSCI Inc has a 1-year low of $501.08 and a 1-year high of $626.28. The business's fifty day moving average price is $559.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $563.73.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The technology company reported $4.55 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.38 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $850.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $830.91 million. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 65.48% and a net margin of 40.74%.MSCI's revenue was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $4.00 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc will post 19.62 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $2.05 per share. This represents a $8.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. 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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