Barclays PLC Sells 73,180 Shares of MSCI Inc $MSCI

Barclays PLC lowered its holdings in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) by 24.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 232,044 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 73,180 shares during the quarter. Barclays PLC’s holdings in MSCI were worth $133,131,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MSCI. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI in the 4th quarter worth approximately $528,560,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of MSCI by 499.3% in the 3rd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 874,882 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $496,417,000 after purchasing an additional 728,900 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of MSCI by 36.0% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,069,180 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $606,674,000 after purchasing an additional 282,859 shares during the period. Banque Pictet & Cie SA lifted its position in shares of MSCI by 103.3% in the 4th quarter. Banque Pictet & Cie SA now owns 523,035 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $300,081,000 after purchasing an additional 265,750 shares during the period. Finally, Generation Investment Management LLP purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI in the 4th quarter worth approximately $130,380,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at MSCI

In related news, insider Alvise J. Munari sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 3.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on MSCI shares. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of MSCI from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $650.00 to $700.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. UBS Group boosted 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. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $655.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Bank of America started coverage on shares of MSCI in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $700.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and ten have issued a Buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, MSCI has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $697.70.

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MSCI opened at $610.21 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $44.42 billion, a PE ratio of 34.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.24. MSCI Inc has a 1 year low of $501.08 and a 1 year high of $644.68. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $586.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $570.81.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The technology company reported $4.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $830.91 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $4.00 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that MSCI Inc will post 19.62 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $8.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.83%.

MSCI 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.