Comerica Bank Cuts Holdings in MSCI Inc $MSCI

Comerica Bank decreased its stake in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) by 54.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 12,976 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 15,767 shares during the period. Comerica Bank’s holdings in MSCI were worth $7,445,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. purchased a new stake in MSCI during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in MSCI during the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in 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 during the period. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in MSCI during the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Strategic Wealth Investment Group LLC purchased a new stake in MSCI during the 2nd quarter worth about $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MSCI news, insider Alvise J. Munari sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $592.04, for a total transaction of $5,920,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 23,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,941,357.92. This trade represents a 29.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $518.95 per share, with a total value of $415,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,493,847 shares in the company, valued at $775,231,900.65. This trade represents a 0.05% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 3.76% of the stock is owned by insiders.

MSCI Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of NYSE MSCI opened at $597.22 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $43.48 billion, a PE ratio of 34.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.30. MSCI Inc has a 52-week low of $501.08 and a 52-week high of $626.28. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $557.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $563.14.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.38 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $850.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $830.91 million. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 65.48% and a net margin of 40.74%.The business’s revenue was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.00 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc will post 19.62 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on MSCI shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $715.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a report on Thursday, January 29th. UBS Group increased their price objective on MSCI from $710.00 to $720.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on MSCI from $545.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded MSCI from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Evercore increased their price objective on MSCI from $655.00 to $690.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $692.70.

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.