Cwm LLC Boosts Stake in MSCI Inc $MSCI

Cwm LLC raised its stake in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) by 34.8% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 14,570 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,761 shares during the period. Cwm LLC’s holdings in MSCI were worth $8,267,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Steph & Co. bought a new stake in MSCI during the second quarter valued at about $35,000. Strategic Wealth Investment Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI during the second quarter valued at about $36,000. Banque Transatlantique SA boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 355.6% in the 1st quarter. Banque Transatlantique SA now owns 82 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 47.0% in the 2nd quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 97 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of MSCI in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $61,000. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

MSCI Stock Performance

MSCI stock opened at $585.36 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $562.63 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $562.66. The company has a market cap of $43.98 billion, a PE ratio of 37.10 and a beta of 1.32. MSCI Inc has a fifty-two week low of $486.73 and a fifty-two week high of $634.99.

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

MSCI Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 14th were issued a $1.80 dividend. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 14th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is 45.63%.

MSCI declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, October 28th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the technology company to purchase up to 7.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on MSCI. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of MSCI from $533.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on MSCI from $655.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of MSCI in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Evercore ISI increased their price target on MSCI from $588.00 to $611.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on MSCI from $700.00 to $710.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, MSCI currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $642.63.

Insider Activity

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 2,290 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $536.17 per share, with a total value of $1,227,829.30. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 335,069 shares in the company, valued at $179,653,945.73. This trade represents a 0.69% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Robert J. Gutowski sold 624 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $558.42, for a total value of $348,454.08. Following the sale, the general counsel directly owned 15,945 shares in the company, valued at $8,904,006.90. This represents a 3.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 3.31% of the company’s stock.

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.