Savant Capital LLC Sells 2,392 Shares of MSCI Inc $MSCI

Savant Capital LLC lessened its position in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) by 86.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 379 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 2,392 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC’s holdings in MSCI were worth $217,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Retail Employees Superannuation Pty Ltd as trustee for Retail Employees Superannuation Trust bought a new stake in shares of MSCI in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $13,636,000. Huntington National Bank lifted its stake in MSCI by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,074 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $616,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. GHE LLC bought a new stake in MSCI during the fourth quarter worth $2,840,000. Malaga Cove Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of MSCI by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Malaga Cove Capital LLC now owns 2,350 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,348,000 after buying an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC increased its holdings in shares of MSCI by 668.3% during the fourth quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 3,227 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,851,000 after buying an additional 2,807 shares in the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

MSCI Stock Performance

NYSE:MSCI opened at $616.28 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $578.01 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $568.93. MSCI Inc has a 52 week low of $501.08 and a 52 week high of $644.68. The firm has a market cap of $44.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.24.

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

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were paid a $2.05 dividend. This represents a $8.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. MSCI’s payout ratio is currently 46.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other MSCI news, CFO Andrew C. Wiechmann sold 450 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $560.00, for a total value of $252,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 22,544 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,624,640. This trade represents a 1.96% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Alvise J. Munari sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $592.04, for a total transaction of $5,920,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 23,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,941,357.92. The trade was a 29.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 3.76% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MSCI. Raymond James Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $730.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Weiss Ratings raised shares of MSCI from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of MSCI from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $650.00 to $700.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of MSCI in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $700.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of MSCI from $710.00 to $720.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and ten have issued a Buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MSCI has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $697.70.

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.