Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. Trims Stock Holdings in MSCI Inc $MSCI

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. decreased its stake in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) by 6.0% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 25,106 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 1,589 shares during the period. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in MSCI were worth $14,252,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in MSCI by 7.6% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 2,003 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,133,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP boosted its position in shares of MSCI by 39.0% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 6,585 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,724,000 after purchasing an additional 1,846 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of MSCI by 20.9% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,052 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $607,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of MSCI during the 2nd quarter valued at $934,000. Finally, Perigon Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of MSCI by 14.6% during the 2nd quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 675 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $389,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the period. 89.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on MSCI shares. UBS Group raised their price target on MSCI from $700.00 to $710.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on MSCI from $655.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $690.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on MSCI from $588.00 to $611.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of MSCI from $650.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $650.13.

Insider Activity at MSCI

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 2,290 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 5th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $536.17 per share, for a total transaction of $1,227,829.30. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 335,069 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $179,653,945.73. This represents a 0.69% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, General Counsel Robert J. Gutowski sold 624 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $558.42, for a total transaction of $348,454.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 15,945 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,904,006.90. The trade was a 3.77% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 3.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

MSCI Price Performance

NYSE MSCI opened at $589.11 on Monday. MSCI Inc has a 1-year low of $486.73 and a 1-year high of $634.99. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $568.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $565.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.27 billion, a PE ratio of 37.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.30.

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

MSCI announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, October 28th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the technology company to purchase up to 7.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

MSCI Company 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.