MSCI Inc $MSCI Stock Position Cut by Temasek Holdings Private Ltd

Temasek Holdings Private Ltd decreased its stake in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 340,382 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 23,565 shares during the period. MSCI makes up 0.7% of Temasek Holdings Private Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd’s holdings in MSCI were worth $193,136,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MSCI. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of MSCI during the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Strategic Wealth Investment Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of MSCI during the second quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in MSCI by 100.0% during the third quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 68 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eastern Bank bought a new stake in MSCI during the third quarter worth approximately $50,000. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MSCI opened at $547.34 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.88, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.29. MSCI Inc has a 1-year low of $486.73 and a 1-year high of $626.28. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $568.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $564.85.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The technology company reported $4.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.62 by $0.04. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 82.59% and a net margin of 38.36%.The company had revenue of $822.53 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $819.51 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.18 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 13th were given a dividend of $2.05 per share. This represents a $8.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. This is a boost from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.80. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 13th. MSCI’s payout ratio is presently 52.26%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MSCI. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $655.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Bank of America started coverage on MSCI in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $700.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on MSCI from $590.00 to $618.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Evercore raised their target price on MSCI from $655.00 to $690.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised MSCI from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $671.78.

Insider Activity at MSCI

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 800 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $518.95 per share, with a total value of $415,160.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,493,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $775,231,900.65. This trade represents a 0.05% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 3.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

MSCI Company 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.