PICTET BANK & TRUST Ltd Invests $1.35 Million in MSCI Inc $MSCI

PICTET BANK & TRUST Ltd bought a new position in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 2,375 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,348,000. MSCI comprises about 1.6% of PICTET BANK & TRUST Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Steph & Co. bought a new stake in shares of MSCI in the 2nd quarter valued at $35,000. Strategic Wealth Investment Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of MSCI during the 2nd quarter worth about $36,000. Banque Transatlantique SA boosted its stake in shares of MSCI by 355.6% during the 1st quarter. Banque Transatlantique SA now owns 82 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the period. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 47.0% during the 2nd quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 97 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the period. Finally, Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of MSCI during the second quarter worth approximately $61,000. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on MSCI from $533.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of MSCI in a report on Monday. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of MSCI to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Barclays increased their price target on shares of MSCI from $650.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $710.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, MSCI has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $642.63.

MSCI Price Performance

MSCI stock opened at $573.60 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $43.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.35 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $564.90 and a 200 day simple moving average of $563.09. MSCI Inc has a 1 year low of $486.73 and a 1 year high of $634.99.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The technology company reported $4.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.37 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $793.43 million for 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.86 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 28th. Investors of record on Friday, November 14th were given a dividend of $1.80 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 14th. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. MSCI’s payout ratio is currently 45.63%.

MSCI declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, October 28th that permits the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the technology company to buy up to 7.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 10,210 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 5th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $536.13 per share, for a total transaction of $5,473,887.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer 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 ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Andrew C. Wiechmann sold 450 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction dated 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. The trade was a 2.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 3.31% of the company’s stock.

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.