Securian Asset Management Inc. Has $1.17 Million Holdings in MSCI Inc $MSCI

Securian Asset Management Inc. lessened its position in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) by 46.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 2,043 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 1,758 shares during the period. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in MSCI were worth $1,172,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MSCI. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. acquired a new position in shares of MSCI during the third quarter worth about $27,000. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in MSCI in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in MSCI by 341.7% in the 4th quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC now owns 53 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC acquired a new position in MSCI during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Strategic Wealth Investment Group LLC acquired a new position in MSCI during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MSCI. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of MSCI from $719.00 to $727.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Weiss Ratings cut shares of MSCI from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $655.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of MSCI from $545.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $730.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, MSCI currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $692.70.

MSCI Trading Down 0.5%

NYSE:MSCI opened at $581.64 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $562.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $565.40. The stock has a market cap of $42.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.22, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.24. MSCI Inc has a 1-year low of $501.08 and a 1-year high of $626.28.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The technology company reported $4.55 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.38 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $850.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $830.91 million. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 65.48% and a net margin of 40.74%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.00 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that MSCI Inc will post 19.62 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 29th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th 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%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.83%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MSCI news, insider Alvise J. Munari sold 10,000 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $592.04, for a total value of $5,920,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 23,548 shares in the company, valued at $13,941,357.92. The trade was a 29.81% 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 the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $560.00, for a total transaction of $252,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 22,544 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,624,640. This represents a 1.96% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 3.76% of the company’s stock.

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.