50,488 Shares in MSCI Inc $MSCI Acquired by Align Financial LLC

Align Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 50,488 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,966,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. PICTET BANK & TRUST Ltd raised its position in MSCI by 116.8% in the fourth quarter. PICTET BANK & TRUST Ltd now owns 5,150 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,955,000 after purchasing an additional 2,775 shares during the period. Vinva Investment Management Ltd raised its position in MSCI by 34.3% in the third quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 80,689 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $45,981,000 after purchasing an additional 20,606 shares during the period. SBI Okasan Asset Management Co.Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI in the 4th quarter valued at $1,406,000. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG raised its holdings in shares of MSCI by 70.2% in the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 26,665 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $15,299,000 after buying an additional 11,000 shares during the period. Finally, Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI in the 4th quarter valued at $1,302,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Price Performance

MSCI opened at $596.48 on Thursday. MSCI Inc has a 12 month low of $501.08 and a 12 month high of $644.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.06, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.24. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $588.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $571.36.

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

MSCI Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th were issued a dividend of $2.05 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $8.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.83%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on MSCI shares. Raymond James Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $730.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $655.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. UBS Group boosted their price objective on MSCI from $710.00 to $720.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Weiss Ratings downgraded MSCI from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded MSCI from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $650.00 to $700.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and ten have given a Buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $697.70.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Alvise J. Munari sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $592.04, for a total transaction of $5,920,400.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 23,548 shares in the company, valued at $13,941,357.92. This trade represents a 29.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 3.76% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.