MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) Stock: Insider Andrew Wiechmann Sells 450 Shares

Key Points

• MSCI CFO Andrew Wiechmann sold 450 shares at an average price of $570, generating $256,500. The transaction was conducted under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, leaving him with 21,644 shares.
• MSCI shares recently traded near $561, while the company’s latest quarterly results slightly missed analyst estimates for earnings and revenue, despite revenue growing 12.2% year over year.
• Analysts remain broadly bullish, with an average “Buy” rating and a consensus price target of $701.17, though JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley recently lowered their targets while maintaining overweight ratings.

MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) CFO Andrew Wiechmann sold 450 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $570.00, for a total transaction of $256,500.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 21,644 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,337,080. This trade represents a 2.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MSCI traded up $0.19 on Wednesday, reaching $561.01. The company's stock had a trading volume of 548,631 shares, compared to its average volume of 632,052. The company has a market cap of $40.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.69, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.24. MSCI Inc has a 52-week low of $501.08 and a 52-week high of $644.77. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $558.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $574.85.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The technology company reported $4.94 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.99 by ($0.05). MSCI had a negative return on equity of 55.19% and a net margin of 40.74%. The business had revenue of $867.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $870.71 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $4.17 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that MSCI Inc will post 19.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 14th were issued a dividend of $2.05 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 14th. This represents a $8.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. MSCI's dividend payout ratio is 44.86%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MSCI

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MSCI. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in MSCI in the second quarter valued at $3,062,626,000. Bamco Inc. NY purchased a new position in MSCI during the second quarter worth $1,798,710,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of MSCI by 13.2% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,446,291 shares of the technology company's stock worth $829,781,000 after acquiring an additional 168,405 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in MSCI during the 2nd quarter worth about $480,613,000. Finally, Generation Investment Management LLP acquired a new position in MSCI in the 2nd quarter valued at about $301,493,000. 89.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on MSCI shares. Bank of America lifted their price target on MSCI from $715.00 to $730.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $685.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Raymond James Financial boosted their price objective on MSCI from $730.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on MSCI in a research note on Friday, July 17th. They set a "buy" rating and a $760.00 target price for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of MSCI from $690.00 to $685.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $701.17.

MSCI News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting MSCI this week:

• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan maintained an “overweight” rating on MSCI while lowering its price target from $700 to $685. The revised target still implies approximately 22% upside, suggesting the bank views recent weakness as a buying opportunity. JPMorgan MSCI price target report
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley also retained an “overweight” rating but reduced its target from $700 to $662, implying roughly 18% upside. The continued positive rating supports the view that MSCI’s recurring revenue and index, analytics and data businesses remain attractive despite valuation concerns. Morgan Stanley MSCI price target report
• Neutral Sentiment: MSCI’s upcoming earnings report is attracting attention. Preview coverage points to expected earnings growth and potential for a quarterly beat, but investors will focus on whether revenue and earnings can exceed expectations after the company’s previous quarter slightly missed consensus estimates. MSCI earnings expectations
• Neutral Sentiment: Several fund letters cited the MSCI World Index as a benchmark, including reports showing both outperformance and underperformance. These references describe index performance rather than new developments at MSCI Inc., so their direct effect on the stock is limited.
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts’ target reductions from both JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley signal increasing caution about MSCI’s valuation or near-term growth, even though both firms remain bullish. Broader volatility in Asian and technology stocks could also pressure market-data and financial-information shares.
• Neutral Sentiment: A report about Strategy’s Michael Saylor concerns the possibility of Strategy being removed from an MSCI index; it does not indicate a change to MSCI Inc.’s own business or index methodology. Strategy MSCI index removal report

About MSCI

MSCI Inc is a global provider of investment decision-support tools and services for institutional investors, asset managers, banks, wealth managers and other financial professionals. The company is best known for its equity, fixed-income and multi-asset-class indexes, which are used as benchmarks and as the basis for investment products such as exchange-traded funds and other index-linked strategies.

In addition to indexes, MSCI provides portfolio analytics, risk-management and performance-measurement tools designed to help clients evaluate exposures, construct portfolios and manage investment risks.

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