2,761 Shares in MSCI Inc $MSCI Bought by Allstate Corp

Allstate Corp bought a new stake in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 2,761 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,567,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MSCI. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. bought a new position in shares of MSCI during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Steph & Co. purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI during the 2nd quarter valued at $35,000. Strategic Wealth Investment Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI during the 2nd quarter valued at $36,000. Eastern Bank acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI in the 3rd quarter worth $50,000. Finally, Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. grew its stake in MSCI by 47.0% during 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. 89.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at MSCI

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 2,290 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $536.17 per share, with a total value of $1,227,829.30. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 335,069 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $179,653,945.73. The trade was a 0.69% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Andrew C. Wiechmann sold 450 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $550.00, for a total value of $247,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 21,639 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,901,450. This represents a 2.04% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 3.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

MSCI Trading Down 3.0%

Shares of MSCI stock opened at $584.35 on Wednesday. MSCI Inc has a twelve month low of $486.73 and a twelve month high of $634.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.91 billion, a PE ratio of 37.03 and a beta of 1.30. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $567.97 and its 200 day moving average price is $564.95.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last released 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 business had revenue of $793.43 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $794.87 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.86 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

MSCI Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 14th were paid a $1.80 dividend. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 14th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.63%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on MSCI from $588.00 to $611.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of MSCI from $570.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of MSCI from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $690.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Barclays boosted 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $650.13.

About MSCI

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.