Bessemer Group Inc. Cuts Stake in MSCI Inc $MSCI

Bessemer Group Inc. lowered its stake in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 586,974 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 3,628 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. owned 0.78% of MSCI worth $333,054,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MSCI. Norges Bank bought a new stake in MSCI in the 2nd quarter valued at $547,348,000. Baillie Gifford & Co. increased its holdings in shares of MSCI by 91.8% in the third quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 691,554 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $392,395,000 after purchasing an additional 331,040 shares during the last quarter. Magellan Asset Management Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI in the second quarter worth about $175,912,000. Banque Pictet & Cie SA bought a new position in MSCI during the third quarter valued at approximately $145,986,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in MSCI by 27.7% during the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 786,321 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $453,513,000 after buying an additional 170,551 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at MSCI

In other news, CFO Andrew C. Wiechmann sold 450 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $550.00, for a total transaction of $247,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 21,639 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,901,450. The trade was a 2.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, General Counsel Robert J. Gutowski sold 624 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $558.42, for a total transaction of $348,454.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel owned 15,945 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,904,006.90. The trade was a 3.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 3.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on MSCI shares. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $655.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of MSCI from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating on shares of MSCI in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $690.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on MSCI from $655.00 to $690.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $659.00.

MSCI Price Performance

MSCI stock opened at $570.45 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.29. MSCI Inc has a 1-year low of $486.73 and a 1-year high of $626.28. The company’s 50-day moving average is $575.07 and its 200 day moving average is $566.50.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The technology company reported $4.66 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.62 by $0.04. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 82.59% and a net margin of 38.36%.The firm had revenue of $822.53 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $819.51 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $4.18 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

MSCI Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 13th will be paid a $2.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 13th. This is a positive change from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.80. This represents a $8.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. MSCI’s payout ratio is 45.89%.

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.