National Pension Service Raises Position in MSCI Inc $MSCI

National Pension Service raised its holdings in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) by 7.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 119,211 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,435 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service’s holdings in MSCI were worth $68,395,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in MSCI in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $243,000. SBI Okasan Asset Management Co.Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI during the 4th quarter worth $1,406,000. United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund lifted its position in shares of MSCI by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund now owns 98,135 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $56,303,000 after purchasing an additional 3,300 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its position in shares of MSCI by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 7,684 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $4,409,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Retail Employees Superannuation Pty Ltd as trustee for Retail Employees Superannuation Trust purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI during the 4th quarter worth $13,636,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MSCI. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of MSCI from $719.00 to $727.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of MSCI from $710.00 to $720.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $655.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Bank of America began coverage on shares of MSCI in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $700.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of MSCI from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. One investment 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, MSCI presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $697.70.

MSCI Price Performance

Shares of MSCI opened at $630.39 on Friday. MSCI Inc has a 1-year low of $501.08 and a 1-year high of $640.27. The stock has a market cap of $45.89 billion, a PE ratio of 36.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.24. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $570.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $567.12.

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 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 earnings per share. MSCI’s quarterly revenue was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that MSCI Inc will post 19.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

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

Key Stories Impacting MSCI

Here are the key news stories impacting MSCI this week:

• Positive Sentiment: MSCI was the subject of a Wells Fargo upgrade, with one article arguing the stock still looks reasonable after the move and that AI demand could support future growth. A Look At MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) Valuation After Wells Fargo Upgrade And AI Demand Tailwinds
• Neutral Sentiment: MSCI’s rebalancing changes prompted large market moves in India, including sharp declines in the Sensex and Nifty as passive funds adjusted holdings. These articles explain the mechanics of the index rebalance and the resulting volatility, but they do not indicate a direct hit to MSCI’s own fundamentals. The MSCI rebalancing candle: Here’s why Sensex fell 850 points in 10 minutes today
• Neutral Sentiment: Additional coverage from Indian financial outlets said the MSCI rebalancing led to outsized foreign-fund outflows and a broad market drop, underscoring MSCI’s influence on global index flows rather than its core business performance. FIIs pull out massive Rs 20,637 crore in single day on Friday. What led to this sharp exit?

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.