MSCI Inc $MSCI Shares Sold by Bell Asset Management Ltd

Bell Asset Management Ltd decreased its holdings in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) by 24.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,253 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 2,658 shares during the quarter. MSCI makes up approximately 1.3% of Bell Asset Management Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Bell Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in MSCI were worth $4,683,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. LGT Group Foundation raised its stake in MSCI by 26.9% during the 3rd quarter. LGT Group Foundation now owns 11,929 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $6,592,000 after acquiring an additional 2,528 shares in the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its stake in MSCI by 0.6% in the third quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 122,658 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $69,597,000 after acquiring an additional 759 shares in the last quarter. Nutshell Asset Management Ltd grew its holdings in shares of MSCI by 1.3% during the third quarter. Nutshell Asset Management Ltd now owns 15,553 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $8,825,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of MSCI by 7.2% during the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 743 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $421,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PFG Advisors increased its position in shares of MSCI by 7.6% during the third quarter. PFG Advisors now owns 6,542 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,712,000 after purchasing an additional 462 shares in the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $690.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a report on Monday, January 12th. Weiss Ratings raised MSCI from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Evercore boosted their price objective on MSCI from $655.00 to $690.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Bank of America initiated coverage on MSCI in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $700.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $655.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $671.78.

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of MSCI opened at $569.33 on Monday. MSCI Inc has a fifty-two week low of $486.73 and a fifty-two week high of $626.28. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $571.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $565.55. The company has a market capitalization of $41.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.29.

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

MSCI Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 13th were paid a $2.05 dividend. This is an increase from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.80. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 13th. This represents a $8.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $524.18 per share, with a total value of $3,145,080.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,493,047 shares in the company, valued at $782,625,376.46. This trade represents a 0.40% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Andrew C. Wiechmann sold 450 shares of MSCI 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 transaction, the chief financial officer owned 21,639 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,901,450. This trade represents a 2.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 3.31% of the company’s stock.

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.