SG Americas Securities LLC Grows Stake in MSCI Inc $MSCI

SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) by 1,506.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 69,426 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 65,105 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC owned 0.09% of MSCI worth $39,832,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. bought a new position in MSCI in the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of MSCI during the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Strategic Wealth Investment Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of MSCI during the 2nd quarter valued at about $36,000. JPL Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of MSCI during the third quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Westside Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 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. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSCI has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Bank of America started coverage on shares of MSCI in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $700.00 price objective on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $715.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of MSCI from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, March 13th. UBS Group set a $638.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $655.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a report on Thursday, January 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, MSCI has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $674.00.

MSCI Price Performance

NYSE:MSCI opened at $530.02 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $562.98 and a 200 day moving average of $564.11. The company has a market capitalization of $38.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.78, 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.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The technology company reported $4.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $822.53 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $819.51 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.18 earnings per share. MSCI’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 13th were paid a $2.05 dividend. This is a positive change from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.80. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 13th. This represents a $8.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.26%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 800 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,493,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $775,231,900.65. This trade represents a 0.05% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Andrew C. Wiechmann sold 450 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $560.00, for a total transaction of $252,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 22,544 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,624,640. The trade was a 1.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 3.76% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.