Manning & Napier Advisors LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in MSCI Inc $MSCI

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) by 75.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,952 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 27,926 shares during the period. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC’s holdings in MSCI were worth $5,093,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. acquired a new position in shares of MSCI during the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Steph & Co. acquired a new position in MSCI during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Strategic Wealth Investment Group LLC acquired a new position in MSCI during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Eastern Bank purchased a new position in shares of MSCI in the third quarter worth $50,000. Finally, Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of MSCI by 47.0% during the second quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 97 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of MSCI stock opened at $595.36 on Thursday. MSCI Inc has a 52-week low of $486.73 and a 52-week high of $634.99. The stock has a market cap of $44.74 billion, a PE ratio of 37.73 and a beta of 1.30. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $566.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $564.71.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The technology company reported $4.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.37 by $0.10. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 110.94% and a net margin of 40.03%.The company had revenue of $793.43 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $794.87 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.86 earnings per share. MSCI’s quarterly revenue was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, October 28th that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the technology company to reacquire up to 7.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 14th were issued a dividend of $1.80 per share. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 14th. MSCI’s payout ratio is 45.63%.

Insider Activity at MSCI

In related news, General Counsel Robert J. Gutowski sold 624 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $558.42, for a total transaction of $348,454.08. Following the sale, the general counsel directly owned 15,945 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,904,006.90. This represents a 3.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Andrew C. Wiechmann sold 450 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $550.00, for a total transaction of $247,500.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 21,639 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,901,450. This represents a 2.04% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 3.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of MSCI in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $690.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research note on Monday. Seaport Res Ptn raised MSCI to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on MSCI from $655.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of MSCI from $570.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $650.13.

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.