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

iA Global Asset Management Inc. reduced its stake in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) by 28.9% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 7,238 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 2,945 shares during the period. iA Global Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in MSCI were worth $3,901,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its position in MSCI by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 375 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $215,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of MSCI by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC now owns 568 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $326,000 after buying an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Keel Point LLC lifted its stake in shares of MSCI by 3.0% during the third quarter. Keel Point LLC now owns 622 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $353,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in shares of MSCI by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,074 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $616,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the period. Finally, AdvisorShares Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of MSCI by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. AdvisorShares Investments LLC now owns 830 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $476,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on MSCI shares. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on MSCI from $719.00 to $727.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. UBS Group lifted their price target on MSCI from $710.00 to $720.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Raymond James Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $730.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $690.00 price objective on MSCI in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut MSCI from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, June 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and ten have issued a Buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $697.00.

Insider Activity at MSCI

In related news, insider Alvise J. Munari sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider directly owned 23,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,941,357.92. This represents a 29.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 3.76% of the stock is owned by insiders.

MSCI Stock Up 4.0%

Shares of MSCI stock opened at $582.55 on Thursday. MSCI Inc has a 52-week low of $501.08 and a 52-week high of $644.68. The stock has a market cap of $42.41 billion, a PE ratio of 33.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.25. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $591.84 and a 200-day simple moving average of $573.18.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The technology company reported $4.55 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.38 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $850.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $830.91 million. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 65.48% and a net margin of 40.74%.MSCI’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.00 earnings per share. Sell-side 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 1.4%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.83%.

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.