Leonteq Securities AG Takes Position in MSCI Inc $MSCI

Leonteq Securities AG bought a new stake in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 896 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $514,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in MSCI by 7.6% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 2,003 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,133,000 after buying an additional 142 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP boosted its stake in MSCI by 39.0% during the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 6,585 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,724,000 after buying an additional 1,846 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in MSCI by 20.9% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,052 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $607,000 after buying an additional 182 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its stake in MSCI by 1.0% during the second quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 35,130 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $20,261,000 after buying an additional 344 shares during the period. Finally, Osterweis Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in MSCI during the second quarter worth $88,000. 89.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at MSCI

In other MSCI news, CFO Andrew C. Wiechmann sold 450 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owned 22,544 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,624,640. This represents a 1.96% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Alvise J. Munari sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $592.04, for a total value of $5,920,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 23,548 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,941,357.92. This represents a 29.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 3.76% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on MSCI shares. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $730.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of MSCI in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of MSCI in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $700.00 target price for the company. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of MSCI from $710.00 to $720.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of MSCI from $719.00 to $727.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MSCI has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $692.70.

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of MSCI stock opened at $588.97 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $42.88 billion, a PE ratio of 33.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $564.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $566.08. MSCI Inc has a one year low of $501.08 and a one year high of $626.28.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The technology company reported $4.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $850.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $830.91 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $4.00 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that MSCI Inc will post 19.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 29th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th will be issued a $2.05 dividend. This represents a $8.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is 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.