Barclays PLC Sells 87,104 Shares of MSCI Inc $MSCI

Barclays PLC reduced its holdings in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) by 22.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 305,224 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 87,104 shares during the quarter. Barclays PLC owned 0.41% of MSCI worth $173,187,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI during the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of MSCI during the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Strategic Wealth Investment Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of MSCI during the second quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in MSCI by 100.0% during the third quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 68 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. Finally, Eastern Bank bought a new position in MSCI during the third quarter valued at approximately $50,000. 89.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSCI has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of MSCI in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $700.00 target price for the company. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of MSCI in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on MSCI from $590.00 to $618.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $690.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised MSCI from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, MSCI has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $671.78.

Insider Buying and Selling at MSCI

In related news, CFO Andrew C. Wiechmann sold 450 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $550.00, for a total transaction of $247,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 21,639 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,901,450. The trade was a 2.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $524.18 per share, with a total value of $3,145,080.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,493,047 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $782,625,376.46. This trade represents a 0.40% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 3.31% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

MSCI Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of MSCI stock opened at $569.33 on Friday. MSCI Inc has a 12 month low of $486.73 and a 12 month high of $626.28. The stock has a market cap of $41.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $571.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $565.61.

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

MSCI Increases Dividend

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

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.