MSCI Inc $MSCI Stock Holdings Raised by Ycg LLC

Ycg LLC increased its position in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) by 4.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 109,714 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,599 shares during the quarter. MSCI comprises about 4.7% of Ycg LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Ycg LLC owned 0.14% of MSCI worth $62,253,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. purchased a new stake in MSCI in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Steph & Co. bought a new position in shares of MSCI in the second quarter worth $35,000. Strategic Wealth Investment Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI in the second quarter worth $36,000. Eastern Bank purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI in the third quarter worth $50,000. Finally, Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. grew its position in MSCI by 47.0% during the second 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at MSCI

In related news, CFO Andrew C. Wiechmann sold 450 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 21,639 shares in the company, valued at $11,901,450. The trade was a 2.04% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, General Counsel Robert J. Gutowski sold 624 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $558.42, for a total value of $348,454.08. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel owned 15,945 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,904,006.90. This represents a 3.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 3.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

MSCI Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of NYSE:MSCI opened at $602.03 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.15 and a beta of 1.30. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $567.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $565.11. MSCI Inc has a 12-month low of $486.73 and a 12-month 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 the consensus estimate of $4.37 by $0.10. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 110.94% and a net margin of 40.03%.The company had revenue of $793.43 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $794.87 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.86 EPS. MSCI’s quarterly revenue was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 EPS for the current year.

MSCI declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, October 28th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the technology company to reacquire up to 7.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 28th. Investors of record on Friday, November 14th were paid a $1.80 dividend. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 14th. MSCI’s payout ratio is presently 45.63%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MSCI. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on MSCI from $570.00 to $590.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of MSCI in a research note on Monday, December 29th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $710.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of MSCI from $650.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on MSCI from $588.00 to $611.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.