M&T Bank Corp Acquires 1,157 Shares of MSCI Inc $MSCI

M&T Bank Corp increased its holdings in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) by 13.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,995 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,157 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in MSCI were worth $5,735,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in MSCI by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,777,749 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,008,745,000 after buying an additional 109,287 shares during the last quarter. Dash Acquisitions Inc. raised its position in shares of MSCI by 103.6% during the third quarter. Dash Acquisitions Inc. now owns 14,958 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $8,490,000 after acquiring an additional 7,613 shares during the last quarter. Katamaran Capital LLP raised its position in shares of MSCI by 57.1% during the third quarter. Katamaran Capital LLP now owns 4,919 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,791,000 after acquiring an additional 1,788 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of MSCI by 37.7% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 12,228 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $6,938,000 after acquiring an additional 3,346 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of MSCI by 10.5% during the third quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 36,996 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $20,992,000 after acquiring an additional 3,510 shares during the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSCI has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on MSCI from $719.00 to $727.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Bank of America initiated coverage on MSCI in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $700.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on MSCI from $545.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded MSCI from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Barclays restated an “overweight” rating on shares of MSCI in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MSCI presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $692.70.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Alvise J. Munari sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 owned 23,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,941,357.92. This trade represents a 29.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Andrew C. Wiechmann sold 450 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $12,624,640. The trade was a 1.96% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 3.76% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

MSCI Stock Up 0.1%

NYSE:MSCI opened at $581.45 on Thursday. MSCI Inc has a 12-month low of $501.08 and a 12-month high of $626.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.24. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $560.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $564.07.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last posted its quarterly 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 negative return on equity of 65.48% and a net margin of 40.74%.The business had revenue of $850.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $830.91 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.00 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that MSCI Inc will post 19.62 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 29th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $2.05 per share. This represents a $8.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.83%.

MSCI 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.