Vanguard Group Inc. Raises Stock Position in MSCI Inc $MSCI

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,674,093 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 165,851 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 12.87% of MSCI worth $5,489,177,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Intact Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in MSCI by 16.0% in the second quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 138 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $80,000 after buying an additional 19 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC grew its holdings in shares of MSCI by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 2,772 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,599,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Harbour Investments Inc. raised its position in shares of MSCI by 8.5% in the 2nd quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 268 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $155,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance lifted its stake in shares of MSCI by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 509 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $289,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. Finally, Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of MSCI by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC now owns 3,300 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,872,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on MSCI shares. Evercore upped their price target on MSCI from $655.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of MSCI from $590.00 to $618.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of MSCI in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of MSCI from $655.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, UBS Group set a $638.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MSCI currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $671.78.

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MSCI opened at $521.51 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $572.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $565.49. MSCI Inc has a 52-week low of $486.73 and a 52-week high of $626.28. The company has a market cap of $38.32 billion, a PE ratio of 33.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.29.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The technology company reported $4.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.62 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $822.53 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $819.51 million. MSCI had a net margin of 38.36% and a negative return on equity of 82.59%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.18 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 13th will be issued a dividend of $2.05 per share. 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 1.6%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.26%.

MSCI announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, October 28th that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the technology company to buy up to 7.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Key Headlines Impacting MSCI

Here are the key news stories impacting MSCI this week:

• Positive Sentiment: MSCI CEO Henry Fernandez bought shares (6,000 shares at ~$524.18 on Feb. 13 and an additional 800 shares at ~$518.95 on Feb. 17), increasing his stake. Insider buys by a CEO are typically viewed as a vote of confidence in the company’s outlook and can support the stock. SEC Form 4
• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America initiated coverage with a “Buy” and $700 price target (implies ~34% upside from recent levels), which can attract buyer interest and boost sentiment among institutional investors. (coverage noted 2/17/2026)
• Positive Sentiment: MSCI recently raised its quarterly dividend to $2.05 and has an active $3.0 billion share buyback authorization (up to ~7.1% of shares). Both moves are shareholder-friendly and support total-return investors. MarketBeat summary
• Neutral Sentiment: Multiple outlets are reporting the insider purchases (AmericanBankingNews, InsiderTrades, Investing.com, MarketBeat). These are largely repetitive confirmations of the same SEC filings rather than new, distinct catalysts. InsiderTrades report
• Negative Sentiment: Technical/headwinds: MSCI is trading below both its 50-day (~$572.68) and 200-day (~$565.49) moving averages, which can create short-term selling pressure from technical traders and algos despite the positive fundamentals. Price & technicals

Insider Activity at MSCI

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $518.95 per share, with a total value of $415,160.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,493,847 shares in the company, valued at $775,231,900.65. The trade was a 0.05% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Andrew C. Wiechmann sold 450 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 21,639 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,901,450. The trade was a 2.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have acquired 19,300 shares of company stock valued at $10,261,957 over the last ninety days. 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.