Vanguard Group Inc. Purchases 165,851 Shares of MSCI Inc $MSCI

Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) by 1.7% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 9,674,093 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 165,851 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 0.13% of MSCI worth $5,489,177,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in MSCI by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,777,749 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,008,745,000 after purchasing an additional 109,287 shares during the period. Dash Acquisitions Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 103.6% in the third quarter. Dash Acquisitions Inc. now owns 14,958 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $8,490,000 after buying an additional 7,613 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of MSCI by 37.7% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 12,228 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $6,938,000 after acquiring an additional 3,346 shares during the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP boosted its position in shares of MSCI by 12.6% during the third quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 209,831 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $119,060,000 after acquiring an additional 23,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Katamaran Capital LLP increased its holdings in MSCI by 57.1% in the 3rd quarter. Katamaran Capital LLP now owns 4,919 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,791,000 after acquiring an additional 1,788 shares during the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of MSCI in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Evercore lifted their price objective on MSCI from $655.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Weiss Ratings downgraded MSCI from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. UBS Group set a $638.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of MSCI from $590.00 to $618.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note 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, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $671.78.

Insider Activity

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $518.95 per share, for a total transaction of $415,160.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 1,493,847 shares in the company, valued at $775,231,900.65. This represents a 0.05% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, General Counsel Robert J. Gutowski sold 624 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owned 15,945 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,904,006.90. This trade represents a 3.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders acquired 19,300 shares of company stock worth $10,261,957. Insiders own 3.31% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting MSCI

Here are the key news stories impacting MSCI this week:

• Positive Sentiment: MSCI CEO Henry Fernandez bought shares (6,000 shares at ~$524.18 on Feb. 13 and an additional 800 shares at ~$518.95 on Feb. 17), increasing his stake. Insider buys by a CEO are typically viewed as a vote of confidence in the company’s outlook and can support the stock. SEC Form 4
• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America initiated coverage with a “Buy” and $700 price target (implies ~34% upside from recent levels), which can attract buyer interest and boost sentiment among institutional investors. (coverage noted 2/17/2026)
• Positive Sentiment: MSCI recently raised its quarterly dividend to $2.05 and has an active $3.0 billion share buyback authorization (up to ~7.1% of shares). Both moves are shareholder-friendly and support total-return investors. MarketBeat summary
• Neutral Sentiment: Multiple outlets are reporting the insider purchases (AmericanBankingNews, InsiderTrades, Investing.com, MarketBeat). These are largely repetitive confirmations of the same SEC filings rather than new, distinct catalysts. InsiderTrades report
• Negative Sentiment: Technical/headwinds: MSCI is trading below both its 50-day (~$572.68) and 200-day (~$565.49) moving averages, which can create short-term selling pressure from technical traders and algos despite the positive fundamentals. Price & technicals

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MSCI opened at $521.51 on Wednesday. MSCI Inc has a 52-week low of $486.73 and a 52-week high of $626.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.24, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.29. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $572.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $565.49.

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

MSCI Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 13th will be given a dividend of $2.05 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 13th. This is a boost from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.80. This represents a $8.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. MSCI’s payout ratio is currently 52.26%.

MSCI announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, October 28th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the technology company to purchase up to 7.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.