Legal & General Group Plc Acquires 51,901 Shares of MSCI Inc $MSCI

Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) by 8.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 632,026 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 51,901 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.84% of MSCI worth $358,618,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MSCI. LGT Group Foundation raised its stake in MSCI by 26.9% in the third quarter. LGT Group Foundation now owns 11,929 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $6,592,000 after buying an additional 2,528 shares in the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its position in MSCI by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 122,658 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $69,597,000 after acquiring an additional 759 shares in the last quarter. Nutshell Asset Management Ltd grew its holdings in shares of MSCI by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Nutshell Asset Management Ltd now owns 15,553 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $8,825,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of MSCI by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 743 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $421,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, PFG Advisors raised its position in shares of MSCI by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter. PFG Advisors now owns 6,542 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,712,000 after acquiring an additional 462 shares in the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $524.18 per share, with a total value of $3,145,080.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 1,493,047 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $782,625,376.46. This trade represents a 0.40% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 3.31% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of MSCI stock opened at $546.83 on Thursday. MSCI Inc has a 12 month low of $486.73 and a 12 month high of $626.28. The stock has a market cap of $40.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $569.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $565.23.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The technology company reported $4.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.62 by $0.04. MSCI had a net margin of 38.36% and a negative return on equity of 82.59%. The business had revenue of $822.53 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $819.51 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $4.18 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast 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 was paid on Friday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 13th were given a dividend of $2.05 per share. This represents a $8.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. This is a boost from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.80. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 13th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.26%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of MSCI in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $690.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Bank of America assumed coverage on MSCI in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $700.00 price target on the stock. Evercore raised 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. Finally, UBS Group set a $638.00 price objective on MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $671.78.

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.