Federated Hermes Inc. Decreases Position in MSCI Inc $MSCI

Federated Hermes Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 84,042 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 5,450 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in MSCI were worth $47,686,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Intact Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of MSCI by 16.0% in the 2nd quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 138 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $80,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Copperwynd Financial LLC increased its stake in MSCI by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Copperwynd Financial LLC now owns 1,793 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,034,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC lifted its position in MSCI by 0.7% in the second quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 2,772 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,599,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. lifted its position in MSCI by 8.5% in the second quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 268 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $155,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of MSCI by 2.4% during the third quarter. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC now owns 980 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $556,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting MSCI

Here are the key news stories impacting MSCI this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Evercore ISI raised its price target to $690 and kept an Outperform rating, signaling strong buy-side conviction and a ~13.7% upside from the current price. Evercore price target raise
• Positive Sentiment: MSCI announced a meaningful dividend hike — quarterly payout raised to $2.05 (a ~13.9% increase vs. prior), supporting yield and income-oriented investor interest. Dividend hikes article
• Positive Sentiment: Operational strength: Q4 showed sticky demand (93% retention), revenue up ~10.6% Y/Y and an EPS beat (reported $4.66 vs. $4.62 consensus), supporting long-term subscription and asset-fee growth thesis. Retention / demand article
• Neutral Sentiment: Full Q4 financials: revenue $822.5M, net margin ~40%, and EPS growth vs. prior year — results largely in line with expectations but with mixed underlying line-item trends. Investors should review the slide deck/press release for segment-level drivers. BusinessWire results
• Negative Sentiment: Company signaled higher full-year expenses and offered softer 2026 guidance, which, combined with the modest EPS beat, pressured the stock despite positive fundamentals. Guidance / reaction article
• Negative Sentiment: Index governance controversy: MSCI paused a rebalancing related to Indonesia, triggering market moves and drawing government scrutiny — a reputational/regulatory risk that can create near-term headlines and client/government friction. Reuters on Indonesia action

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Andrew C. Wiechmann sold 450 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 21,639 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,901,450. The trade was a 2.04% decrease in their position. The sale 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 company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $558.42, for a total transaction of $348,454.08. Following the completion of 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. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 3.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSCI has been the topic of several analyst reports. Weiss Ratings raised shares of MSCI from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of MSCI from $590.00 to $618.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $655.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research note on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $715.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and set a $690.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a report on Monday, January 12th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, MSCI has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $659.00.

MSCI Price Performance

MSCI stock opened at $606.96 on Friday. MSCI Inc has a 1 year low of $486.73 and a 1 year high of $621.38. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $572.29 and a 200 day moving average of $565.91. The company has a market cap of $45.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.68, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.30.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The technology company reported $4.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.62 by $0.04. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 82.59% and a net margin of 38.36%.The business had revenue of $822.53 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $819.51 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.18 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Tuesday, October 28th that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the technology company to buy up to 7.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 13th will be given a dividend of $2.05 per share. This is a boost from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.80. This represents a $8.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 13th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.63%.

About MSCI

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.