Barclays PLC Sells 73,180 Shares of MSCI Inc $MSCI

Barclays PLC trimmed its position in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) by 24.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 232,044 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 73,180 shares during the period. Barclays PLC owned 0.32% of MSCI worth $133,131,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Aviso Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of MSCI by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Aviso Financial Inc. now owns 859 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $487,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of MSCI by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 375 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $215,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the period. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of MSCI by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC now owns 568 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $326,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the period. Keel Point LLC increased its holdings in MSCI by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Keel Point LLC now owns 622 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $353,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings in MSCI by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,074 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $616,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at MSCI

In related news, insider Alvise J. Munari sold 10,000 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $592.04, for a total transaction of $5,920,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 23,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,941,357.92. The trade was a 29.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 3.76% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on MSCI shares. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of MSCI from $710.00 to $720.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of MSCI from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of MSCI from $719.00 to $727.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Raymond James Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $730.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of MSCI from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $650.00 to $700.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and ten have issued a Buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $697.70.

MSCI Stock Up 1.9%

Shares of NYSE:MSCI opened at $610.21 on Tuesday. MSCI Inc has a 52 week low of $501.08 and a 52 week high of $644.68. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $586.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $570.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.85, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.24.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The technology company reported $4.55 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.38 by $0.17. MSCI had a net margin of 40.74% and a negative return on equity of 65.48%. The firm had revenue of $850.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $830.91 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $4.00 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that MSCI Inc will post 19.62 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were paid a dividend of $2.05 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $8.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. MSCI’s payout ratio is currently 46.83%.

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.