Legal & General Group Plc Lowers Stake in MSCI Inc $MSCI

by · The Cerbat Gem

Legal & General Group Plc lessened its stake in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCIFree Report) by 15.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 531,787 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 100,239 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in MSCI were worth $305,102,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC increased its holdings in MSCI by 148.2% in the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 494 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $283,000 after acquiring an additional 295 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd purchased a new stake in MSCI in the 4th quarter worth $666,000. St. Louis Trust Co purchased a new stake in MSCI in the 4th quarter worth $897,000. Buckhead Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in MSCI by 15.3% in the 4th quarter. Buckhead Capital Management LLC now owns 415 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $238,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cumberland Partners Ltd increased its holdings in MSCI by 92.9% in the 4th quarter. Cumberland Partners Ltd now owns 6,750 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,873,000 after acquiring an additional 3,250 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Stock Up 0.4%

MSCI stock opened at $590.97 on Wednesday. MSCI Inc has a 52-week low of $501.08 and a 52-week high of $626.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.75, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $566.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $566.22.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCIGet Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The technology company reported $4.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $830.91 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.00 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc will post 19.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $2.05 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. This represents a $8.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.83%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, 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 value of $252,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 22,544 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,624,640. This represents a 1.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Alvise J. Munari sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 24th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $13,941,357.92. This represents a 29.81% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 3.76% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of MSCI in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $700.00 price target for the company. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of MSCI in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $655.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of MSCI from $719.00 to $727.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Evercore boosted their price target on shares of MSCI from $655.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MSCI has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $692.70.

View Our Latest Analysis on MSCI

MSCI Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.

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