Advisors Asset Management Inc. Grows Holdings in MSCI Inc $MSCI

Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) by 16.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,500 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,087 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in MSCI were worth $4,256,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Intact Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of MSCI by 16.0% during the second quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 138 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $80,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC grew its stake in MSCI by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 2,772 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,599,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Harbour Investments Inc. increased its position in shares of MSCI by 8.5% during the 2nd quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 268 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $155,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance increased its position in shares of MSCI by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 509 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $289,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC raised its stake in shares of MSCI by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC now owns 3,300 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,872,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other MSCI news, CFO Andrew C. Wiechmann sold 450 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 21,639 shares in the company, valued at $11,901,450. This represents a 2.04% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Robert J. Gutowski sold 624 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 24th. The shares were 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 directly owned 15,945 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,904,006.90. The trade was a 3.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 3.31% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting MSCI

Here are the key news stories impacting MSCI this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Seeking Alpha highlights a 13.9% dividend increase and continued double-digit growth outlook for MSCI, a direct positive for income and total-return investors. MSCI: 13.9% Dividend Hike And Double-Digit Growth
• Positive Sentiment: MSCI-driven index additions in major markets (example: Aditya Birla Capital and L&T Finance added to MSCI Global Standard Index) are expected to trigger sizable passive flows into the included stocks, underscoring the commercial importance of MSCI’s index decisions and supporting its recurring-fee franchise. Birla Capital, L&T Finance enter MSCI Index
• Positive Sentiment: MSCI’s increased exposure to Chinese tech in recent revamps (and resulting market moves) illustrates the firm’s influence on global flows and index composition, which can sustain demand for MSCI’s index products and data services. China Stocks Climb as MSCI Boosts Exposure
• Positive Sentiment: Ongoing trend of adding crypto-related and microcap names to MSCI indexes (examples reported this week) demonstrates expanding coverage breadth and keeps MSCI at the center of passive rebalances — a structural tailwind for its indexing and data business. Another crypto firm joins MicroStrategy in MSCI index
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts note MSCI inclusions tend to spur foreign investor interest into affected markets — a market dynamic that benefits index users and validates MSCI’s market impact, but doesn’t directly change MSCI’s revenue mix in the short term. MSCI inclusions to spur foreign interest – analysts
• Neutral Sentiment: Quarterly/annual commentary (Baron Fund note and coverage summaries) describes MSCI as holding steady amid macro and market challenges — supportive context but not a near-term stock mover on its own. MSCI (MSCI) Held Steady Amid Challenges
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory/political friction surfaced after an MSCI “freeze” prompted government attention (Indonesia example), which can create short-term volatility in affected markets and raises governance/public-relations risk around index actions. Luhut Preps Recommendations to Improve Market After MSCI Freeze

MSCI Price Performance

Shares of MSCI stock opened at $526.21 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.54, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.29. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $573.19 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $565.89. MSCI Inc has a 1 year low of $486.73 and a 1 year high of $626.28.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The technology company reported $4.66 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $819.51 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.18 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 EPS for the current year.

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

MSCI Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 13th will be given a dividend of $2.05 per share. This is a boost from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.80. This represents a $8.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 13th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.89%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group set a $638.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Evercore increased their target price on shares of MSCI from $655.00 to $690.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of MSCI from $655.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on MSCI from $590.00 to $618.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered MSCI from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Wednesday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MSCI presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $659.00.

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.