MSCI Inc $MSCI Shares Sold by Hantz Financial Services Inc.

Hantz Financial Services Inc. lessened its holdings in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) by 15.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 24,874 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 4,547 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in MSCI were worth $14,271,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MSCI. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in MSCI by 7.6% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 2,003 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $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 increased its position in shares of MSCI by 20.9% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,052 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $607,000 after acquiring an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its position in shares of 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 valued at $20,261,000 after acquiring an additional 344 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Osterweis Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $88,000. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MSCI. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of MSCI in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Bank of America assumed coverage on MSCI in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $700.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on MSCI from $719.00 to $727.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Evercore increased their target price on MSCI from $655.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised MSCI from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $692.70.

MSCI Trading Up 0.1%

NYSE:MSCI opened at $588.97 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $42.88 billion, a PE ratio of 33.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.24. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $564.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $565.98. MSCI Inc has a 12-month low of $501.08 and a 12-month high of $626.28.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last released 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.00 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that MSCI Inc will post 19.62 EPS for the current 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is 46.83%.

Insider Activity at MSCI

In other news, CFO Andrew C. Wiechmann sold 450 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $560.00, for a total value of $252,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Alvise J. Munari sold 10,000 shares of MSCI 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 in the company, valued at $13,941,357.92. This represents a 29.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 3.76% of the company’s stock.

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.