Swedbank AB Lowers Position in MSCI Inc $MSCI

Key Points

• Swedbank AB reduced its MSCI stake by 11.7% in the fourth quarter, selling 16,160 shares and ending with 121,491 shares worth about $69.7 million.
• MSCI’s insider activity included sales by CFO Andrew C. Wiechmann and insider Alvise J. Munari, while institutional investors still own nearly 90% of the company’s stock.
• Analysts remain upbeat on MSCI, with an average Buy rating and a consensus price target of $692.70; the stock also rose 1.1% and the company recently beat quarterly EPS and revenue estimates.

Swedbank AB lessened its stake in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 11.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 121,491 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 16,160 shares during the quarter. Swedbank AB owned approximately 0.16% of MSCI worth $69,703,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MSCI. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 499.3% in the third quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 874,882 shares of the technology company's stock worth $496,417,000 after buying an additional 728,900 shares in the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 91.8% in the third quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 691,554 shares of the technology company's stock worth $392,395,000 after buying an additional 331,040 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 36.0% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,069,180 shares of the technology company's stock worth $606,674,000 after buying an additional 282,859 shares in the last quarter. Banque Pictet & Cie SA lifted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 103.3% in the fourth quarter. Banque Pictet & Cie SA now owns 523,035 shares of the technology company's stock worth $300,081,000 after buying an additional 265,750 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bamco Inc. NY lifted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 10.3% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Andrew C. Wiechmann sold 450 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $560.00, for a total value of $252,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 22,544 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,624,640. This represents a 1.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 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 transaction of $5,920,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 23,548 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,941,357.92. This represents a 29.81% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 3.76% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on MSCI shares. Raymond James Financial reissued a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $730.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Weiss Ratings raised shares of MSCI from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Evercore upped their price target on shares of MSCI from $655.00 to $690.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of MSCI in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. They set a "buy" rating and a $700.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $715.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $692.70.

MSCI Stock Up 1.1%

MSCI stock opened at $588.97 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $42.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.64, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.24. The firm's fifty day moving average is $564.26 and its 200 day moving average is $566.08. MSCI Inc has a 52-week low of $501.08 and a 52-week high of $626.28.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $4.38 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $850.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $830.91 million. MSCI had a net margin of 40.74% and a negative return on equity of 65.48%. MSCI's revenue was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.00 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc will post 19.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 29th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $2.05 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. This represents a $8.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. MSCI's dividend payout ratio is presently 46.83%.

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.