Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund Boosts Stock Holdings in MSCI Inc $MSCI

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its position in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) by 32.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,881 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,163 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in MSCI were worth $5,039,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSCI. Steph & Co. acquired a new position in shares of MSCI in the second quarter worth about $35,000. Strategic Wealth Investment Group LLC acquired a new position in MSCI in the 2nd quarter worth about $36,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. grew its holdings in MSCI by 47.0% in the second quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 97 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in MSCI in the second quarter valued at approximately $61,000. Finally, Generali Investments Management Co LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI in the second quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of NYSE MSCI opened at $581.11 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $565.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $564.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.83 and a beta of 1.30. MSCI Inc has a 52 week low of $486.73 and a 52 week high of $634.99.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The technology company reported $4.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.37 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $793.43 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $794.87 million. MSCI had a net margin of 40.03% and a negative return on equity of 110.94%. MSCI’s revenue was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.86 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 EPS for the current year.

MSCI announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, October 28th that permits the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the technology company to purchase up to 7.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 28th. Investors of record on Friday, November 14th were issued a $1.80 dividend. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 14th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other MSCI news, General Counsel Robert J. Gutowski sold 624 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 trade represents a 3.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 10,210 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 5th. The shares were bought at an average price of $536.13 per share, for a total transaction of $5,473,887.30. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 1,487,047 shares in the company, valued at approximately $797,250,508.11. This trade represents a 0.69% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 3.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MSCI. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of MSCI in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of MSCI from $588.00 to $611.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of MSCI from $533.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of MSCI from $655.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $710.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, MSCI currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $642.63.

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.