Dash Acquisitions Inc. Raises Position in MSCI Inc $MSCI

Dash Acquisitions Inc. boosted its holdings in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) by 103.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,958 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,613 shares during the period. MSCI makes up 1.7% of Dash Acquisitions Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position. Dash Acquisitions Inc.’s holdings in MSCI were worth $8,490,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of MSCI in the second quarter worth approximately $547,348,000. Magellan Asset Management Ltd bought a new stake in MSCI in the 2nd quarter worth $175,912,000. Banque Pictet & Cie SA bought a new stake in MSCI in the 3rd quarter worth $145,986,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of MSCI by 27.7% in the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 786,321 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $453,513,000 after acquiring an additional 170,551 shares during the period. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd raised its stake in shares of MSCI by 90.1% during the second quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 350,738 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $202,285,000 after acquiring an additional 166,208 shares during the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on MSCI shares. Barclays raised their target price on MSCI from $650.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on MSCI from $570.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $690.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research note on Monday, January 12th. UBS Group upped their target price on MSCI from $700.00 to $710.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on MSCI from $588.00 to $611.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, MSCI has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $650.13.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 10,210 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 5th. The stock was bought at an average price of $536.13 per share, with a total value of $5,473,887.30. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,487,047 shares in the company, valued at approximately $797,250,508.11. This represents a 0.69% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Andrew C. Wiechmann sold 450 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $550.00, for a total value of $247,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 21,639 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,901,450. The trade was a 2.04% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Company insiders own 3.31% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Trading Down 0.4%

MSCI opened at $589.11 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $44.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 1.30. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $568.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $565.30. MSCI Inc has a 12-month low of $486.73 and a 12-month high of $634.99.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The technology company reported $4.47 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.37 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $793.43 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $794.87 million. MSCI had a net margin of 40.03% and a negative return on equity of 110.94%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.86 EPS. On average, analysts predict that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

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

MSCI declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, October 28th that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the technology company to buy up to 7.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.