Fundsmith LLP Reduces Stock Position in MSCI Inc $MSCI

Fundsmith LLP cut its holdings in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) by 17.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 53,580 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 11,208 shares during the period. MSCI comprises about 0.2% of Fundsmith LLP’s holdings, making the stock its 25th largest position. Fundsmith LLP’s holdings in MSCI were worth $30,007,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MSCI. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of MSCI in the 2nd quarter valued at $3,062,626,000. State Street Corp grew its stake in MSCI by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,320,761 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,884,233,000 after buying an additional 39,450 shares during the last quarter. Bamco Inc. NY purchased a new position in shares of MSCI during the second quarter worth approximately $1,798,710,000. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in MSCI by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,467,556 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,415,713,000 after purchasing an additional 52,242 shares during the period. Finally, T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in MSCI by 13.2% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,446,291 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $829,781,000 after acquiring an additional 168,405 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $742.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Weiss Ratings lowered MSCI from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $690.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Raymond James Financial lifted their target price on shares of MSCI from $730.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, UBS Group set a $615.00 price objective on MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and eleven have issued a Buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $709.50.

MSCI Price Performance

Shares of MSCI stock opened at $571.20 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $579.52 and a 200-day moving average of $573.23. The company has a market capitalization of $41.53 billion, a PE ratio of 31.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.23. MSCI Inc has a 1-year low of $501.08 and a 1-year high of $644.77.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The technology company reported $4.94 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.99 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $867.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $870.71 million. MSCI had a net margin of 40.74% and a negative return on equity of 55.19%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $4.17 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that MSCI Inc will post 19.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 28th. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th were issued 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 was Friday, August 14th. MSCI’s payout ratio is presently 44.86%.

MSCI 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.