Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV Purchases 2,295 Shares of MSCI Inc $MSCI

Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) by 253.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,202 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,295 shares during the period. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV’s holdings in MSCI were worth $1,817,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSCI. Intact Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 16.0% during the 2nd quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 138 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC increased its stake in MSCI by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 2,772 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,599,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. raised its holdings in MSCI by 8.5% during the 2nd quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 268 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $155,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance lifted its stake in MSCI by 4.3% in the third quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 509 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $289,000 after buying an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 2.4% in the third quarter. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC now owns 980 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $556,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the period. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MSCI Stock Down 1.6%

MSCI stock opened at $556.97 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $575.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $566.86. The company has a market cap of $41.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.29. MSCI Inc has a twelve month low of $486.73 and a twelve month high of $626.28.

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

MSCI Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 13th will be paid a $2.05 dividend. This is an increase from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.80. This represents a $8.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 13th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is 52.26%.

MSCI declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, October 28th that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the technology company to repurchase up to 7.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MSCI shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of MSCI from $590.00 to $618.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Weiss Ratings upgraded MSCI from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, January 16th. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of MSCI in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $690.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $715.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $659.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Andrew C. Wiechmann sold 450 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $550.00, for a total transaction of $247,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 21,639 shares in the company, valued at $11,901,450. The trade was a 2.04% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 10,210 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 5th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $536.13 per share, for a total transaction of $5,473,887.30. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 1,487,047 shares in the company, valued at $797,250,508.11. This trade represents a 0.69% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 3.31% of the company’s stock.

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.