Strs Ohio Trims Holdings in MSCI Inc $MSCI

Strs Ohio lowered its stake in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) by 74.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,598 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 58,000 shares during the quarter. Strs Ohio’s holdings in MSCI were worth $11,120,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSCI. Intact Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in MSCI by 16.0% during the 2nd quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 138 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $80,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Copperwynd Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of MSCI by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Copperwynd Financial LLC now owns 1,793 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,034,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC lifted its position in shares of MSCI by 0.7% during the second quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 2,772 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,599,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. grew its stake in MSCI by 8.5% in the second quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 268 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $155,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in MSCI by 2.4% in the third quarter. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC now owns 980 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $556,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MSCI Price Performance

Shares of MSCI opened at $589.11 on Monday. MSCI Inc has a 12 month low of $486.73 and a 12 month high of $634.99. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $568.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $565.07. The company has a market cap of $44.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.33, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.30.

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

MSCI declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, October 28th that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the technology company to buy up to 7.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at MSCI

In other MSCI news, General Counsel Robert J. Gutowski sold 624 shares of the business’s 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 $8,904,006.90. The trade was a 3.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Andrew C. Wiechmann sold 450 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $550.00, for a total transaction of $247,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 21,639 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,901,450. This trade represents a 2.04% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 3.31% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on MSCI shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on MSCI from $655.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Weiss Ratings raised MSCI from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of MSCI from $588.00 to $611.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $710.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of MSCI from $570.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $650.13.

MSCI 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.