BNP Paribas Grows Stock Position in MSCI Inc $MSCI

BNP Paribas increased its holdings in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) by 38.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 8,276 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,293 shares during the period. BNP Paribas’ holdings in MSCI were worth $4,704,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Aviso Financial Inc. raised its position in MSCI by 2.0% in the third 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. Intact Investment Management Inc. grew 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 worth $80,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance increased its position in shares of MSCI by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 509 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $289,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC raised its holdings in MSCI by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC now owns 3,300 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,872,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Stock Up 2.0%

MSCI opened at $547.34 on Friday. MSCI Inc has a 52 week low of $486.73 and a 52 week high of $626.28. The business’s 50 day moving average is $568.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $564.80. The firm has a market cap of $40.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.29.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The technology company reported $4.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.62 by $0.04. The business 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 company’s revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $4.18 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 13th were paid a dividend of $2.05 per share. The ex-dividend date was 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 52.26%.

Insider Transactions at MSCI

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $524.18 per share, with a total value of $3,145,080.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,493,047 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $782,625,376.46. This trade represents a 0.40% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 3.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on MSCI. Weiss Ratings cut shares of MSCI from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $690.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of MSCI in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $700.00 price target for the company. UBS Group set a $638.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $655.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $671.78.

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.