MSCI Inc $MSCI Shares Sold by Manning & Napier Advisors LLC

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC lowered its stake in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) by 75.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,952 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 27,926 shares during the quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC’s holdings in MSCI were worth $5,093,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. purchased a new position in MSCI during the third quarter valued at $27,000. Steph & Co. acquired a new position in shares of MSCI during the 2nd quarter worth about $35,000. Strategic Wealth Investment Group LLC purchased a new position in MSCI in the 2nd quarter valued at about $36,000. Eastern Bank acquired a new stake in MSCI in the 3rd quarter worth about $50,000. Finally, Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. increased its stake in MSCI by 47.0% during the 2nd quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 97 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MSCI Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of NYSE:MSCI opened at $595.36 on Thursday. MSCI Inc has a 52-week low of $486.73 and a 52-week high of $634.99. The stock has a market cap of $44.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.73 and a beta of 1.30. The business has a fifty day moving average of $566.75 and a two-hundred day moving average of $564.71.

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

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 14th were issued a $1.80 dividend. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 14th. MSCI’s payout ratio is presently 45.63%.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on MSCI shares. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded MSCI to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on MSCI from $655.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of MSCI from $650.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $690.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research report on Monday. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of MSCI from $588.00 to $611.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $650.13.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Andrew C. Wiechmann sold 450 shares of the company’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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 21,639 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,901,450. This represents a 2.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, General Counsel Robert J. Gutowski sold 624 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the general counsel owned 15,945 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,904,006.90. The trade was a 3.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 3.31% 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.