Callahan Advisors LLC Makes New $3.44 Million Investment in MSCI Inc $MSCI

Callahan Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 5,990 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,437,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 6.6% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,777,749 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,008,745,000 after buying an additional 109,287 shares during the last quarter. Katamaran Capital LLP lifted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 57.1% during the third quarter. Katamaran Capital LLP now owns 4,919 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,791,000 after buying an additional 1,788 shares during the last quarter. Dash Acquisitions Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 103.6% during 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 during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 3,346 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 10.5% during the third quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 36,996 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $20,992,000 after buying an additional 3,510 shares during the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MSCI Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MSCI opened at $583.07 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $562.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $565.96. MSCI Inc has a fifty-two week low of $501.08 and a fifty-two week high of $626.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.24.

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

MSCI Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at MSCI

In other news, CFO Andrew C. Wiechmann sold 450 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $560.00, for a total transaction of $252,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 22,544 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,624,640. This represents a 1.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Alvise J. Munari sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $592.04, for a total value of $5,920,400.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 23,548 shares in the company, valued at $13,941,357.92. The trade was a 29.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 3.76% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSCI has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded MSCI from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating on shares of MSCI in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on MSCI from $545.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $730.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on MSCI in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $700.00 target price for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $692.70.

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.