K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc Sells 3,000 Shares of MSCI Inc $MSCI

K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc trimmed its stake in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) by 65.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,614 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 3,000 shares during the quarter. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc’s holdings in MSCI were worth $905,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. bought a new stake in shares of MSCI during the third quarter worth $27,000. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI during the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Strategic Wealth Investment Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI during the 2nd quarter valued at $36,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. grew its position in MSCI by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 68 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eastern Bank acquired a new position in MSCI in the 3rd quarter worth about $50,000. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $655.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. UBS Group set a $638.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $690.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating and issued a $715.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of MSCI from $590.00 to $618.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $671.78.

Insider Transactions at MSCI

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were bought at an average price of $518.95 per share, for a total transaction of $415,160.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,493,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $775,231,900.65. This trade represents a 0.05% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Andrew C. Wiechmann sold 450 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 21,639 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,901,450. This represents a 2.04% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have acquired 19,300 shares of company stock valued at $10,261,957. Company insiders own 3.31% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Price Performance

Shares of MSCI stock opened at $572.44 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.06 billion, a PE ratio of 36.48, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.29. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $572.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $565.13. MSCI Inc has a one year low of $486.73 and a one year high of $626.28.

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

MSCI Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 13th will be given a dividend of $2.05 per share. This represents a $8.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. This is an increase from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.80. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 13th. MSCI’s payout ratio is currently 52.26%.

MSCI Company 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.