Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Decreases Stake in MSCI Inc $MSCI

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. reduced its stake in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) by 6.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 53,483 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 3,619 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in MSCI were worth $30,685,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Founders Financial Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of MSCI in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $260,000. MUFG Securities EMEA plc raised its position in shares of MSCI by 5,509.7% in the 4th quarter. MUFG Securities EMEA plc now owns 83,080 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $47,665,000 after purchasing an additional 81,599 shares during the last quarter. Texas Yale Capital Corp. raised its position in shares of MSCI by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Texas Yale Capital Corp. now owns 30,225 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $17,341,000 after purchasing an additional 705 shares during the last quarter. Sfmg LLC raised its position in shares of MSCI by 30.9% in the 4th quarter. Sfmg LLC now owns 1,473 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $845,000 after purchasing an additional 348 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wormser Freres Gestion raised its position in shares of MSCI by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Wormser Freres Gestion now owns 8,126 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,664,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group increased their price objective 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. Raymond James Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $730.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of MSCI from $719.00 to $727.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $655.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Bank of America started coverage on shares of MSCI in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $700.00 price target on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and ten have assigned a Buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $697.70.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Andrew C. Wiechmann sold 450 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $560.00, for a total transaction of $252,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer 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 through this link. Also, insider Alvise J. Munari sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $592.04, for a total transaction of $5,920,400.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 23,548 shares in the company, valued at $13,941,357.92. The trade was a 29.81% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 3.76% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

MSCI Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MSCI opened at $643.49 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.75, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.24. MSCI Inc has a 12 month low of $501.08 and a 12 month high of $644.68. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $571.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $567.47.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The technology company reported $4.55 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.38 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $850.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $830.91 million. MSCI had a net margin of 40.74% and a negative return on equity of 65.48%. The business’s revenue was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $4.00 EPS. Analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc will post 19.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th were paid a dividend of $2.05 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $8.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.83%.

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.