MSCI Inc $MSCI Shares Bought by iA Global Asset Management Inc.

iA Global Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) by 18.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,704 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 1,541 shares during the quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in MSCI were worth $5,506,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MSCI. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of MSCI in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $547,348,000. Magellan Asset Management Ltd acquired a new stake in MSCI in the second quarter valued at $175,912,000. Banque Pictet & Cie SA purchased a new position in shares of MSCI in the third quarter valued at $145,986,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of MSCI by 27.7% during the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 786,321 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $453,513,000 after buying an additional 170,551 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd raised its stake in shares of MSCI by 90.1% during the 2nd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 350,738 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $202,285,000 after buying an additional 166,208 shares during the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other MSCI news, CFO Andrew C. Wiechmann sold 450 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $550.00, for a total value of $247,500.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 21,639 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,901,450. This trade represents a 2.04% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 2,290 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $536.17 per share, with a total value of $1,227,829.30. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 335,069 shares in the company, valued at approximately $179,653,945.73. The trade was a 0.69% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Company insiders own 3.31% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Price Performance

NYSE:MSCI opened at $589.11 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $568.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $565.30. The firm has a market cap of $44.27 billion, a PE ratio of 37.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 1.30. MSCI Inc has a 1-year low of $486.73 and a 1-year high of $634.99.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The technology company reported $4.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.37 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $793.43 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 last year, the business earned $3.86 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

MSCI Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSCI has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of MSCI from $650.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of MSCI from $588.00 to $611.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and set a $690.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Seaport Research Partners raised MSCI to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on MSCI from $570.00 to $590.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $650.13.

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.