St. Louis Trust Co Takes $897,000 Position in MSCI Inc $MSCI

St. Louis Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 1,564 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $897,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MSCI. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 7.6% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 2,003 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,133,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 39.0% during the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 6,585 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,724,000 after acquiring an additional 1,846 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 20.9% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,052 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $607,000 after acquiring an additional 182 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 1.0% during the second quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 35,130 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $20,261,000 after acquiring an additional 344 shares during the period. Finally, Osterweis Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of MSCI during the second quarter valued at $88,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Stock Up 1.1%

MSCI stock opened at $588.97 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $42.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.64, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $564.26 and a 200 day simple moving average of $566.08. MSCI Inc has a fifty-two week low of $501.08 and a fifty-two week high of $626.28.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The technology company reported $4.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.38 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $850.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $830.91 million. MSCI had a net margin of 40.74% and a negative return on equity of 65.48%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $4.00 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be given a $2.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. This represents a $8.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. MSCI’s payout ratio is 46.83%.

Insider Activity

In other MSCI news, insider Alvise J. Munari sold 10,000 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the insider directly owned 23,548 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,941,357.92. The trade was a 29.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Andrew C. Wiechmann sold 450 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was 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 owned 22,544 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,624,640. This trade represents a 1.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 3.76% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on MSCI shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating and set a $715.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Evercore upped their price objective on shares of MSCI from $655.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $730.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Weiss Ratings raised shares of MSCI from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of MSCI from $719.00 to $727.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $692.70.

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.