HighTower Advisors LLC Cuts Stock Position in MSCI Inc $MSCI

HighTower Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 83,966 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 5,496 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.11% of MSCI worth $47,643,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSCI. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in MSCI by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,508,242 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $5,483,783,000 after buying an additional 131,390 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in MSCI by 1.4% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,281,311 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,892,463,000 after purchasing an additional 45,547 shares during the last quarter. Bamco Inc. NY raised its stake in MSCI by 4.8% during the second quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 2,170,333 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,251,718,000 after purchasing an additional 98,680 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in MSCI by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,993,524 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,146,298,000 after purchasing an additional 34,335 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of MSCI by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,777,749 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,008,745,000 after buying an additional 109,287 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Price Performance

NYSE:MSCI opened at $521.51 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.32 billion, a PE ratio of 33.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.29. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $572.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $565.49. MSCI Inc has a 12 month low of $486.73 and a 12 month high of $626.28.

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

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

MSCI Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 13th will be given a $2.05 dividend. 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. MSCI’s payout ratio is 52.26%.

Insider Activity at MSCI

In related news, General Counsel Robert J. Gutowski sold 624 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $558.42, for a total value of $348,454.08. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel directly owned 15,945 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,904,006.90. This represents a 3.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Andrew C. Wiechmann sold 450 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $550.00, for a total value of $247,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 21,639 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,901,450. This trade represents a 2.04% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have purchased 19,300 shares of company stock valued at $10,261,957 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 3.31% of the company’s stock.

Key MSCI News

Here are the key news stories impacting MSCI this week:

• Positive Sentiment: MSCI CEO Henry Fernandez bought shares (6,000 shares at ~$524.18 on Feb. 13 and an additional 800 shares at ~$518.95 on Feb. 17), increasing his stake. Insider buys by a CEO are typically viewed as a vote of confidence in the company’s outlook and can support the stock. SEC Form 4
• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America initiated coverage with a “Buy” and $700 price target (implies ~34% upside from recent levels), which can attract buyer interest and boost sentiment among institutional investors. (coverage noted 2/17/2026)
• Positive Sentiment: MSCI recently raised its quarterly dividend to $2.05 and has an active $3.0 billion share buyback authorization (up to ~7.1% of shares). Both moves are shareholder-friendly and support total-return investors. MarketBeat summary
• Neutral Sentiment: Multiple outlets are reporting the insider purchases (AmericanBankingNews, InsiderTrades, Investing.com, MarketBeat). These are largely repetitive confirmations of the same SEC filings rather than new, distinct catalysts. InsiderTrades report
• Negative Sentiment: Technical/headwinds: MSCI is trading below both its 50-day (~$572.68) and 200-day (~$565.49) moving averages, which can create short-term selling pressure from technical traders and algos despite the positive fundamentals. Price & technicals

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. UBS Group set a $638.00 target price on MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Weiss Ratings cut MSCI from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $655.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of MSCI in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $690.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $671.78.

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.