Banque Pictet & Cie SA Purchases Shares of 257,285 MSCI Inc $MSCI

Banque Pictet & Cie SA purchased a new position in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 257,285 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $145,986,000. MSCI comprises about 0.8% of Banque Pictet & Cie SA’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. Banque Pictet & Cie SA owned 0.33% of MSCI at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Steph & Co. purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI during the second quarter worth about $35,000. Strategic Wealth Investment Group LLC bought a new position in MSCI during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Banque Transatlantique SA lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 64 shares during the period. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. grew its position in shares of MSCI by 47.0% in the 2nd quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 97 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of MSCI in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $61,000. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other MSCI news, General Counsel Robert J. Gutowski sold 624 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 2,290 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $536.17 per share, for a total transaction of $1,227,829.30. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 335,069 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $179,653,945.73. The trade was a 0.69% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 3.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSCI has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of MSCI in a report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of MSCI from $655.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $710.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of MSCI from $588.00 to $611.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of MSCI from $650.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $642.63.

MSCI Price Performance

NYSE:MSCI opened at $573.60 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $564.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $563.09. The company has a market capitalization of $43.10 billion, a PE ratio of 36.35 and a beta of 1.30. MSCI Inc has a 1-year low of $486.73 and a 1-year high of $634.99.

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

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

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 28th. Investors of record on Friday, November 14th were paid a $1.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 14th. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.63%.

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.