Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp Makes New Investment in MSCI Inc $MSCI

Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp purchased a new stake in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 1,952 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,108,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of MSCI. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in MSCI by 1.4% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,508,242 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $5,483,783,000 after purchasing an additional 131,390 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of MSCI by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,281,311 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,892,463,000 after buying an additional 45,547 shares during the period. Bamco Inc. NY grew its position in shares of MSCI by 4.8% during the second quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 2,170,333 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,251,718,000 after buying an additional 98,680 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of MSCI by 1.8% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,993,524 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,146,298,000 after buying an additional 34,335 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of MSCI by 6.6% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,777,749 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,008,745,000 after buying an additional 109,287 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Trading Down 1.9%

Shares of NYSE MSCI opened at $570.45 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $42.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.29. MSCI Inc has a twelve month low of $486.73 and a twelve month high of $626.28. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $575.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $566.50.

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

MSCI Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 13th will be issued a $2.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 13th. This is an increase from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.80. This represents a $8.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.89%.

MSCI announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, October 28th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the technology company to purchase up to 7.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on MSCI shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of MSCI from $590.00 to $618.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. UBS Group set a $638.00 target price on MSCI in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $715.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Weiss Ratings upgraded MSCI from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, January 16th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $655.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $659.00.

Insider Transactions at MSCI

In related news, CFO Andrew C. Wiechmann sold 450 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $550.00, for a total value of $247,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 21,639 shares in the company, valued at $11,901,450. This trade represents a 2.04% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 2,290 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 5th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $536.17 per share, with a total value of $1,227,829.30. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 335,069 shares in the company, valued at approximately $179,653,945.73. This trade represents a 0.69% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 3.31% of the company’s stock.

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.