Dynasty Wealth Management LLC Cuts Position in MSCI Inc $MSCI

Dynasty Wealth Management LLC lowered its holdings in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) by 34.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 2,452 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 1,266 shares during the quarter. Dynasty Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in MSCI were worth $1,391,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI in the second quarter valued at about $547,348,000. Magellan Asset Management Ltd purchased a new position in MSCI in the second quarter valued at about $175,912,000. Banque Pictet & Cie SA acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $145,986,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of MSCI by 27.7% during the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 786,321 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $453,513,000 after acquiring an additional 170,551 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd grew its holdings in shares of MSCI by 90.1% in the 2nd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 350,738 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $202,285,000 after acquiring an additional 166,208 shares during the period. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings raised MSCI from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday. Barclays lifted 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. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of MSCI to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and set a $690.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of MSCI from $588.00 to $611.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MSCI presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $650.13.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, General Counsel Robert J. Gutowski sold 624 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $558.42, for a total transaction of $348,454.08. Following the sale, the general counsel owned 15,945 shares in the company, valued at $8,904,006.90. This trade represents a 3.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Andrew C. Wiechmann sold 450 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $550.00, for a total value 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 $11,901,450. The trade was a 2.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 3.31% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

MSCI Trading Down 3.0%

MSCI stock opened at $584.35 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $567.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $564.95. MSCI Inc has a 52 week low of $486.73 and a 52 week high of $634.99. The stock has a market cap of $43.91 billion, a PE ratio of 37.03 and a beta of 1.30.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last released 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. The company 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%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.86 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 28th. Investors of record on Friday, November 14th were given a dividend of $1.80 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 14th. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.63%.

MSCI declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, October 28th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the technology company to reacquire up to 7.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

MSCI Company 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.