Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Sells 55,667 Shares of MSCI Inc $MSCI

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) by 9.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 506,752 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 55,667 shares during the quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s holdings in MSCI were worth $290,739,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MSCI. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in MSCI by 341.7% during the fourth quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC now owns 53 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC bought a new position in MSCI during the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Elyxium Wealth LLC bought a new position in MSCI during the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Strategic Wealth Investment Group LLC bought a new position in MSCI during the second quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, JPL Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in MSCI during the third quarter valued at $36,000. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSCI has been the subject of several research reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of MSCI from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Monday. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of MSCI from $710.00 to $720.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Bank of America initiated 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. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of MSCI from $719.00 to $727.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $655.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and ten have assigned a Buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, MSCI currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $697.70.

Insider Buying and Selling at MSCI

In other news, insider Alvise J. Munari sold 10,000 shares of the 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 sale, the insider owned 23,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,941,357.92. This represents a 29.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Andrew C. Wiechmann sold 450 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $560.00, for a total transaction of $252,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 22,544 shares in the company, valued at $12,624,640. This represents a 1.96% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 3.76% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of MSCI opened at $616.28 on Friday. MSCI Inc has a twelve month low of $501.08 and a twelve month high of $644.68. The company has a market cap of $44.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.24. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $578.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $568.85.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced 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. MSCI had a net margin of 40.74% and a negative return on equity of 65.48%. The business had revenue of $850.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $830.91 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $4.00 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that MSCI Inc will post 19.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

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

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.