Truist Financial Corp Lowers Stake in MSCI Inc $MSCI

Truist Financial Corp decreased its position in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) by 8.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 12,573 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 1,202 shares during the quarter. Truist Financial Corp’s holdings in MSCI were worth $7,251,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Olde Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of MSCI in the first quarter valued at about $27,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in MSCI by 136.4% during the 1st quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 52 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Steph & Co. purchased a new position in MSCI in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. lifted its holdings in MSCI by 50.0% in the 1st quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 66 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Banque Transatlantique SA boosted its stake in MSCI by 355.6% in 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 period. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at MSCI

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 84 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $548.69 per share, with a total value of $46,089.96. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,279,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $702,296,314.19. The trade was a 0.01% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Over the last three months, insiders have purchased 12,400 shares of company stock valued at $6,731,599. 3.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

MSCI Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of MSCI stock opened at $564.81 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $563.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $559.43. MSCI Inc has a 52 week low of $486.73 and a 52 week high of $642.45. The company has a market capitalization of $43.69 billion, a PE ratio of 37.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.33.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The technology company reported $4.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.12 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $772.68 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $763.06 million. MSCI had a net margin of 39.46% and a negative return on equity of 143.13%. The business’s revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.64 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th were issued a $1.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. MSCI’s payout ratio is currently 47.68%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of MSCI from $578.00 to $533.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of MSCI in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Raymond James Financial upgraded MSCI from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $650.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on MSCI from $625.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised MSCI to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $652.45.

About MSCI

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.