Danske Bank A S Lowers Position in MSCI Inc $MSCI

Danske Bank A S cut its stake in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) by 23.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 52,987 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 16,216 shares during the quarter. Danske Bank A S’s holdings in MSCI were worth $30,400,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI in the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI during the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of MSCI by 341.7% during the fourth quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC now owns 53 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Strategic Wealth Investment Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI during the second quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 89.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at MSCI

In other news, CFO Andrew C. Wiechmann sold 450 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $560.00, for a total value of $252,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 22,544 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,624,640. This trade represents a 1.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Alvise J. Munari sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $592.04, for a total value of $5,920,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 23,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,941,357.92. The trade was a 29.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 3.76% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of NYSE MSCI opened at $589.11 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $558.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $563.44. MSCI Inc has a 1-year low of $501.08 and a 1-year high of $626.28. The firm has a market cap of $42.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.24.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The technology company reported $4.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.38 by $0.17. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 65.48% and a net margin of 40.74%.The business had revenue of $850.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $830.91 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $4.00 earnings per share. MSCI’s revenue was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that MSCI Inc will post 19.62 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be issued a $2.05 dividend. This represents a $8.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.83%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on MSCI shares. Evercore increased their price target on MSCI from $655.00 to $690.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Weiss Ratings raised MSCI from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on MSCI from $545.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. UBS Group increased their price target on MSCI from $710.00 to $720.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on MSCI in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $700.00 price target for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average 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.