Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Boosts Holdings in MSCI Inc $MSCI

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) by 13.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 737,063 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 89,399 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership’s holdings in MSCI were worth $422,875,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSCI. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in MSCI by 341.7% during the 4th quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC now owns 53 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in MSCI during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC purchased a new position in MSCI during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Elyxium Wealth LLC purchased a new position in MSCI during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Strategic Wealth Investment Group LLC purchased a new position in MSCI during the 2nd quarter valued at about $36,000. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on MSCI shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of MSCI from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Bank of America started coverage on shares of MSCI in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $700.00 target price for the company. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of MSCI from $710.00 to $720.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of MSCI from $719.00 to $727.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of MSCI from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $650.00 to $700.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and ten have issued a Buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $697.70.

MSCI Stock Performance

MSCI opened at $599.14 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $584.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $570.38. MSCI Inc has a 1 year low of $501.08 and a 1 year high of $644.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.62 billion, a PE ratio of 34.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.24.

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

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were given a $2.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $8.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.83%.

Insider Activity at MSCI

In related 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 value of $252,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 22,544 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,624,640. This trade represents a 1.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Alvise J. Munari sold 10,000 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $592.04, for a total transaction of $5,920,400.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 23,548 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,941,357.92. This trade represents a 29.81% 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 company insiders.

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.