Citigroup Inc. Sells 78,274 Shares of MSCI Inc $MSCI

Citigroup Inc. lessened its position in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) by 52.9% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 69,559 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 78,274 shares during the quarter. Citigroup Inc.’s holdings in MSCI were worth $39,468,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MSCI. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. bought a new position in MSCI in the third quarter worth $27,000. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of MSCI in the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Strategic Wealth Investment Group LLC bought a new position in shares of MSCI during the 2nd quarter worth about $36,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of MSCI by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 68 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eastern Bank acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI during the 3rd quarter valued at about $50,000. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $715.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. UBS Group set a $638.00 target price on MSCI in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Weiss Ratings downgraded MSCI from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on MSCI from $655.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $690.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, MSCI presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $671.78.

Insider Activity

In other MSCI news, CFO Andrew C. Wiechmann sold 450 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $550.00, for a total value of $247,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 21,639 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,901,450. This trade represents a 2.04% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 800 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were bought at an average price of $518.95 per share, for a total transaction of $415,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,493,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $775,231,900.65. This represents a 0.05% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders acquired a total of 19,300 shares of company stock valued at $10,261,957 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 3.31% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Price Performance

NYSE MSCI opened at $550.05 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $572.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $565.13. MSCI Inc has a one year low of $486.73 and a one year high of $626.28. The firm has a market cap of $40.41 billion, a PE ratio of 35.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.29.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The technology company reported $4.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.62 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $822.53 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $4.18 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

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

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

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.