Investment Management Corp of Ontario Raises Holdings in MSCI Inc $MSCI

Investment Management Corp of Ontario lifted its holdings in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) by 5.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 43,448 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,324 shares during the period. Investment Management Corp of Ontario’s holdings in MSCI were worth $24,927,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of MSCI by 341.7% during the 4th quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC now owns 53 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in shares of MSCI during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of MSCI during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Elyxium Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of MSCI during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Strategic Wealth Investment Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of MSCI during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,000. 89.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MSCI. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of MSCI from $719.00 to $727.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Weiss Ratings cut shares of MSCI from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of MSCI from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $650.00 to $700.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of MSCI from $710.00 to $720.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $655.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and ten have given a Buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, MSCI has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $697.70.

Insider Transactions at MSCI

In related news, insider Alvise J. Munari sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $592.04, for a total transaction of $5,920,400.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 23,548 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,941,357.92. This trade represents a 29.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 3.76% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MSCI opened at $596.48 on Thursday. MSCI Inc has a 1 year low of $501.08 and a 1 year high of $644.68. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $588.56 and its 200 day moving average price is $571.36. The firm has a market cap of $43.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.24.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The technology company reported $4.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.38 by $0.17. MSCI had a net margin of 40.74% and a negative return on equity of 65.48%. The firm had revenue of $850.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $830.91 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $4.00 earnings per share. MSCI’s revenue was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that MSCI Inc will post 19.62 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were given a dividend of $2.05 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $8.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.83%.

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.