Meitav Investment House Ltd. Acquires 14,693 Shares of MSCI Inc $MSCI

Meitav Investment House Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) by 318.5% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 19,306 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 14,693 shares during the period. Meitav Investment House Ltd.’s holdings in MSCI were worth $10,406,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of MSCI by 341.7% in 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 period. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of MSCI during the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Elyxium Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of MSCI during the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, SHP Wealth Management acquired a new position in MSCI in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

MSCI Trading Up 0.3%

MSCI stock traded up $1.68 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $615.72. The stock had a trading volume of 102,520 shares, compared to its average volume of 640,664. MSCI Inc has a 52 week low of $501.08 and a 52 week high of $644.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.24. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $591.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $573.89.

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

MSCI Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSCI has been the topic of several research analyst reports. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of MSCI from $710.00 to $720.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $730.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on MSCI from $719.00 to $727.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $655.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered MSCI from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, June 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and ten have assigned a Buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $697.00.

Insider Activity at MSCI

In related news, insider Alvise J. Munari sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $592.04, for a total transaction of $5,920,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 23,548 shares in the company, valued at $13,941,357.92. This represents a 29.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 3.76% of the company’s stock.

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.