Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. Lowers Holdings in MSCI Inc $MSCI

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. reduced its stake in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) by 6.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 25,106 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 1,589 shares during the period. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in MSCI were worth $14,252,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in MSCI by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,508,242 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $5,483,783,000 after purchasing an additional 131,390 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in MSCI by 1.4% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,281,311 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,892,463,000 after buying an additional 45,547 shares during the last quarter. Bamco Inc. NY lifted its stake in shares of MSCI by 4.8% in the second quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 2,170,333 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,251,718,000 after buying an additional 98,680 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of MSCI by 1.8% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,993,524 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,146,298,000 after buying an additional 34,335 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fiera Capital Corp grew its holdings in shares of MSCI by 2.2% during the second quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 969,850 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $559,351,000 after buying an additional 20,682 shares during the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, General Counsel Robert J. Gutowski sold 624 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the general counsel directly owned 15,945 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,904,006.90. The trade was a 3.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Andrew C. Wiechmann sold 450 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $550.00, for a total transaction of $247,500.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 21,639 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,901,450. This represents a 2.04% 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 insiders.

MSCI Stock Performance

MSCI stock opened at $589.11 on Monday. MSCI Inc has a one year low of $486.73 and a one year high of $634.99. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $568.99 and a 200 day moving average of $565.07. The stock has a market cap of $44.27 billion, a PE ratio of 37.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.30.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The technology company reported $4.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $793.43 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $794.87 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.86 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback 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 repurchase up to 7.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSCI has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Seaport Research Partners upgraded shares of MSCI to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Weiss Ratings upgraded MSCI from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, January 16th. UBS Group increased their price objective on MSCI from $700.00 to $710.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on MSCI from $588.00 to $611.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of MSCI from $570.00 to $590.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given 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.

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.