Candriam S.C.A. Grows Stake in MSCI Inc $MSCI

Candriam S.C.A. increased its position in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) by 577.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 36,221 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 30,875 shares during the period. Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings in MSCI were worth $20,552,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in shares of MSCI by 7.6% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 2,003 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,133,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP increased its holdings in MSCI by 39.0% during the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 6,585 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,724,000 after buying an additional 1,846 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its position in MSCI by 20.9% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,052 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $607,000 after acquiring an additional 182 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL boosted its stake in shares of MSCI by 19.8% during the 2nd quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 1,192 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $687,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of MSCI by 25.4% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 212 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $122,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 10,210 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 5th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $536.13 per share, for a total transaction of $5,473,887.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,487,047 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $797,250,508.11. This trade represents a 0.69% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Robert J. Gutowski sold 624 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $558.42, for a total transaction of $348,454.08. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel owned 15,945 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,904,006.90. This trade represents a 3.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 3.31% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MSCI opened at $560.26 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $42.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.29. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $575.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $566.98. MSCI Inc has a fifty-two week low of $486.73 and a fifty-two week high of $626.28.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The technology company reported $4.66 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.62 by $0.04. MSCI had a net margin of 38.36% and a negative return on equity of 82.59%. The business had revenue of $822.53 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $819.51 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $4.18 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, October 28th that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the technology company to buy up to 7.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 13th will be issued a dividend of $2.05 per share. This is a positive change from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.80. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 13th. This represents a $8.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. MSCI’s payout ratio is currently 45.89%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSCI has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on MSCI from $655.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of MSCI in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $690.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a report on Monday, January 12th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of MSCI from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, January 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $715.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $659.00.

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.