Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Sells 6,454 Shares of MSCI Inc $MSCI

Key Points

• Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group trimmed its stake in MSCI by 3.6% in Q4, selling 6,454 shares and leaving it with 171,461 shares (about 0.23% of the company) worth roughly $98.37 million.
• A number of large institutions increased holdings—most notably Mitsubishi UFJ (+499.3%), Baillie Gifford (+91.8%) and JPMorgan (+36.0%)—leaving total institutional ownership at 89.97%.
• Analysts rate MSCI a consensus "Moderate Buy" with an average target of $665.89; insiders made small trades (CFO sold 450 shares, CEO bought 800), and the company raised its quarterly dividend to $2.05 (annualized $8.20, yield 1.5%).

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lowered its position in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 3.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 171,461 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 6,454 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned 0.23% of MSCI worth $98,372,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSCI. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in MSCI by 499.3% during the 3rd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 874,882 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $496,417,000 after buying an additional 728,900 shares in the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. increased its position in MSCI by 91.8% during the 3rd quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 691,554 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $392,395,000 after buying an additional 331,040 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in MSCI by 36.0% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,069,180 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $606,674,000 after buying an additional 282,859 shares in the last quarter. Banque Pictet & Cie SA increased its position in MSCI by 103.3% during the 4th quarter. Banque Pictet & Cie SA now owns 523,035 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $300,081,000 after buying an additional 265,750 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bamco Inc. NY increased its position in MSCI by 10.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 2,394,117 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,358,446,000 after buying an additional 223,784 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on MSCI shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on MSCI from $618.00 to $545.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Weiss Ratings lowered MSCI from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $715.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Raymond James Financial raised MSCI from an "outperform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $710.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Finally, Evercore raised their price objective on MSCI from $655.00 to $690.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MSCI currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $665.89.

Insider Buying and Selling at MSCI

In other MSCI 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 in the company, valued at approximately $12,624,640. This trade represents a 1.96% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 800 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $518.95 per share, for a total transaction of $415,160.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 1,493,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $775,231,900.65. The trade was a 0.05% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 3.76% of the company's stock.

MSCI Trading Up 3.0%

Shares of MSCI opened at $552.57 on Tuesday. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $548.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $561.46. MSCI Inc has a 12 month low of $501.08 and a 12 month high of $626.28. The company has a market cap of $40.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.30.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The technology company reported $4.66 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.62 by $0.04. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 82.59% and a net margin of 38.36%.The business had revenue of $822.53 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $819.51 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $4.18 EPS. The company's revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 13th were paid a dividend of $2.05 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 13th. This represents a $8.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. This is a positive change from MSCI's previous quarterly dividend of $1.80. MSCI's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.26%.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MSCI? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.