United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund Trims Stock Position in MSCI Inc $MSCI

United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund trimmed its holdings in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) by 3.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 94,835 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 3,803 shares during the period. MSCI comprises approximately 2.1% of United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund’s holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund’s holdings in MSCI were worth $54,695,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its position in MSCI by 136.4% during the first quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 52 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Steph & Co. purchased a new position in MSCI in the 2nd quarter valued at about $35,000. Banque Transatlantique SA boosted its stake in shares of MSCI by 355.6% during the 1st quarter. Banque Transatlantique SA now owns 82 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd grew its holdings in shares of MSCI by 2,666.7% during the first quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 83 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of MSCI by 47.0% during the second quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 97 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on MSCI. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of MSCI from $533.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. UBS Group raised their price objective on MSCI from $700.00 to $710.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Weiss Ratings lowered MSCI from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays raised their price target on MSCI from $650.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of MSCI from $655.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $655.90.

MSCI Trading Up 0.0%

MSCI opened at $563.15 on Thursday. MSCI Inc has a twelve month low of $486.73 and a twelve month high of $642.45. The firm has a market cap of $42.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.69, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $562.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $563.58.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The technology company reported $4.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $793.43 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $794.87 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.86 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.80 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 14th. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. MSCI’s payout ratio is currently 45.63%.

MSCI announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other MSCI news, General Counsel Robert J. Gutowski sold 624 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $558.42, for a total value of $348,454.08. Following the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 15,945 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,904,006.90. This represents a 3.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 3.31% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

MSCI Profile

MSCI Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides critical decision support tools and solutions for the investment community to manage investment processes worldwide. The Index segment provides indexes for use in various areas of the investment process, including indexed financial product, such as ETFs, mutual funds, annuities, futures, options, structured products, and over-the-counter derivatives; performance benchmarking; portfolio construction and rebalancing; and asset allocation, as well as licenses GICS and GICS Direct.