Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Boosts Stock Position in MSCI Inc $MSCI

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its position in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) by 85.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 34,685 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 15,984 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in MSCI were worth $19,681,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Intact Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of MSCI by 16.0% in the second quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 138 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $80,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Gries Financial LLC raised its holdings in MSCI by 1.3% during the second quarter. Gries Financial LLC now owns 1,505 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $868,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Copperwynd Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of MSCI by 1.1% in the second quarter. Copperwynd Financial LLC now owns 1,793 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,034,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC boosted its stake in shares of MSCI by 0.7% in the second quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 2,772 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,599,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Finally, Harbour Investments Inc. grew its position in shares of MSCI by 8.5% during the second quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 268 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $155,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at MSCI

In other news, CFO Andrew C. Wiechmann sold 450 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $550.00, for a total transaction of $247,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 21,639 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,901,450. The trade was a 2.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 10,210 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 5th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $536.13 per share, with a total value of $5,473,887.30. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,487,047 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $797,250,508.11. This trade represents a 0.69% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 3.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSCI has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded MSCI to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of MSCI in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of MSCI from $533.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. UBS Group boosted their target price on MSCI from $700.00 to $710.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on MSCI from $650.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $642.63.

MSCI Trading Down 0.0%

MSCI opened at $581.11 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $565.90 and a 200 day moving average of $564.39. MSCI Inc has a 12 month low of $486.73 and a 12 month high of $634.99. The firm has a market cap of $43.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.83 and a beta of 1.30.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The technology company reported $4.47 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.37 by $0.10. MSCI had a net margin of 40.03% and a negative return on equity of 110.94%. The firm had revenue of $793.43 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $794.87 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.86 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, October 28th that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the technology company to repurchase up to 7.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 14th were given a dividend of $1.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 14th. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.63%.

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.