MSCI Inc $MSCI Shares Sold by Swedbank AB

Key Points

• Swedbank AB has reduced its stake in MSCI Inc by 1.4%, now owning approximately 0.22% of the company, valued at $94.5 million.
• CEO Henry A. Fernandez recently bought 84 shares of MSCI, increasing his ownership to 1,279,951 shares, valued at over $702 million.
• MSCI's quarterly earnings report revealed earnings of $4.17 per share, exceeding analysts' expectations and marking a 9.1% year-over-year revenue increase.

Swedbank AB lowered its position in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 1.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 167,142 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 2,390 shares during the period. Swedbank AB owned about 0.22% of MSCI worth $94,519,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MSCI. Menard Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Olde Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI during the first quarter worth about $27,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of MSCI by 136.4% during the first quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 52 shares of the technology company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. increased its stake in shares of MSCI by 50.0% during the first quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 66 shares of the technology company's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Banque Transatlantique SA increased its stake in shares of MSCI by 355.6% during the first quarter. Banque Transatlantique SA now owns 82 shares of the technology company's stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on MSCI. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of MSCI from $578.00 to $533.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Raymond James Financial raised shares of MSCI from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $650.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of MSCI from $625.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of MSCI from $655.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $652.45.

Insider Activity at MSCI

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 9,916 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 24th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $544.70 per share, for a total transaction of $5,401,245.20. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 1,279,867 shares in the company, valued at $697,143,554.90. The trade was a 0.78% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In the last quarter, insiders have purchased 12,400 shares of company stock valued at $6,731,599. Corporate insiders own 3.31% of the company's stock.

MSCI Stock Down 4.8%

Shares of MSCI stock traded down $27.86 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $550.78. The stock had a trading volume of 679,472 shares, compared to its average volume of 610,808. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $563.26 and a two-hundred day moving average of $559.25. MSCI Inc has a 12-month low of $486.73 and a 12-month high of $642.45. The firm has a market cap of $42.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.34.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The technology company reported $4.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $772.68 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $763.06 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.64 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th were issued a $1.80 dividend. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. MSCI's dividend payout ratio is currently 47.68%.

MSCI 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.