Truist Financial Corp Lowers Stake in MSCI Inc $MSCI

Truist Financial Corp reduced its holdings in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) by 10.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 11,103 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 1,261 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp’s holdings in MSCI were worth $6,370,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 7.6% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 2,003 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,133,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 39.0% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 6,585 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,724,000 after acquiring an additional 1,846 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 20.9% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,052 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $607,000 after acquiring an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 1.0% in the second quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 35,130 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $20,261,000 after acquiring an additional 344 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Osterweis Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI in the second quarter valued at about $88,000. 89.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MSCI Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of MSCI opened at $584.68 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $42.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.39, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a 50-day moving average of $561.05 and a two-hundred day moving average of $564.44. MSCI Inc has a 12-month low of $501.08 and a 12-month high of $626.28.

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. The company had revenue of $850.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $830.91 million. MSCI had a net margin of 40.74% and a negative return on equity of 65.48%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $4.00 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that MSCI Inc will post 19.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be given 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 payout ratio is currently 46.83%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MSCI. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of MSCI from $719.00 to $727.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Weiss Ratings cut shares of MSCI from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of MSCI in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $700.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of MSCI from $710.00 to $720.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $715.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MSCI presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $692.70.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $524.18 per share, with a total value of $3,145,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,493,047 shares in the company, valued at approximately $782,625,376.46. This represents a 0.40% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Andrew C. Wiechmann sold 450 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $560.00, for a total transaction 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 approximately $12,624,640. This represents a 1.96% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 3.76% of the company’s stock.

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.