Arizona State Retirement System Trims Stock Position in MSCI Inc $MSCI

Arizona State Retirement System lowered its stake in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) by 3.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 21,732 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 874 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in MSCI were worth $12,468,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MSCI. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of MSCI by 499.3% during the 3rd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 874,882 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $496,417,000 after buying an additional 728,900 shares during the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. raised its stake in shares of MSCI by 91.8% during the 3rd quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 691,554 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $392,395,000 after buying an additional 331,040 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of MSCI by 36.0% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,069,180 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $606,674,000 after buying an additional 282,859 shares during the last quarter. Banque Pictet & Cie SA raised its stake in shares of MSCI by 103.3% during the 4th quarter. Banque Pictet & Cie SA now owns 523,035 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $300,081,000 after buying an additional 265,750 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bamco Inc. NY raised its stake in shares of MSCI by 10.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 2,394,117 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,358,446,000 after buying an additional 223,784 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at MSCI

In other news, CFO Andrew C. Wiechmann sold 450 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $560.00, for a total transaction of $252,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 22,544 shares in the company, valued at $12,624,640. The trade was a 1.96% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 13th. The shares were bought at an average price of $524.18 per share, for a total transaction of $3,145,080.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 1,493,047 shares in the company, valued at approximately $782,625,376.46. The trade was a 0.40% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 3.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSCI has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $715.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on MSCI from $719.00 to $727.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating on shares of MSCI in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Evercore lifted their price target on MSCI from $655.00 to $690.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on MSCI from $710.00 to $720.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $692.70.

Key Stories Impacting MSCI

Here are the key news stories impacting MSCI this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 results beat expectations — MSCI reported stronger-than-expected Q1 revenue and earnings, which previously pushed the stock higher on improved fundamentals. MSCI Trading Up on Earnings
• Positive Sentiment: UBS raised its price target to $720 with a Buy rating — analysts now see ~20%+ upside from current levels, supporting a bullish medium-term case. UBS Raises Price Target
• Neutral Sentiment: Shareholder votes completed at the April 21 annual meeting — investors approved the board, pay plan and auditor, removing a governance overhang. Annual Meeting Results
• Neutral Sentiment: Positive longer-term research notes and coverage — Zacks and other outlets highlight MSCI as a strong long-term holding, reinforcing the company’s secular data/index/analytics story. Zacks: Top Stock for Long-Term
• Negative Sentiment: Macro/geopolitical weakness is pressuring markets — investor letters cite the Iran war and broader market declines (MSCI World and others), which can depress demand for index- and benchmarking-related flows. Fiduciary Management Q1 Letter
• Negative Sentiment: Index methodology / market-specific actions — MSCI extended a suspension related to Indonesian equities, creating near-term headline and regional flow uncertainty. MSCI Extends Indonesia Suspension

MSCI Price Performance

Shares of MSCI stock opened at $592.33 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $43.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.30. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $553.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $562.36. MSCI Inc has a 1-year low of $501.08 and a 1-year high of $626.28.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The technology company reported $4.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.38 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $850.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $830.91 million. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 65.48% and a net margin of 40.74%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.00 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that MSCI Inc will post 19.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $2.05 per share. This represents a $8.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. MSCI’s payout ratio is currently 46.83%.

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.