MSCI Inc $MSCI Position Increased by Baillie Gifford & Co.

Baillie Gifford & Co. increased its stake in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) by 91.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 691,554 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 331,040 shares during the quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. owned about 0.89% of MSCI worth $392,395,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSCI. Dash Acquisitions Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 103.6% during the third quarter. Dash Acquisitions Inc. now owns 14,958 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $8,490,000 after acquiring an additional 7,613 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lifted its position in MSCI by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 103,012 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $58,450,000 after purchasing an additional 1,250 shares during the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd boosted its stake in MSCI by 14.8% during the 3rd quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 7,588 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,306,000 after purchasing an additional 981 shares during the period. Birch Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in MSCI by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Birch Financial Group LLC now owns 1,066 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $605,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Finally, iA Global Asset Management Inc. grew its position in MSCI by 18.9% in the 3rd quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,704 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $5,506,000 after purchasing an additional 1,541 shares during the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 10,210 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 5th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $536.13 per share, for a total transaction of $5,473,887.30. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,487,047 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $797,250,508.11. This trade represents a 0.69% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Robert J. Gutowski sold 624 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $558.42, for a total value of $348,454.08. Following the sale, 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 position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 3.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

MSCI Stock Down 0.4%

NYSE:MSCI opened at $589.11 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $568.99 and its 200 day moving average price is $565.30. MSCI Inc has a 52-week low of $486.73 and a 52-week high of $634.99. The firm has a market cap of $44.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.33, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 1.30.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $793.43 million during 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.86 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 EPS for the current year.

MSCI declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, October 28th that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the technology company to reacquire up to 7.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $690.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a report on Monday, January 12th. Barclays lifted their target price on MSCI from $650.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Seaport Research Partners raised MSCI to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Weiss Ratings raised MSCI from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, January 16th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $710.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MSCI currently has an average 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.