J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG Cuts Holdings in MSCI Inc $MSCI

J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG decreased its holdings in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) by 76.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 362 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 1,176 shares during the period. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG’s holdings in MSCI were worth $208,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in MSCI by 7.6% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 2,003 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,133,000 after buying an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 39.0% during the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 6,585 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,724,000 after acquiring an additional 1,846 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 20.9% during the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,052 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $607,000 after acquiring an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. Lido Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of MSCI by 131.3% in the second quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 2,937 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,694,000 after acquiring an additional 1,667 shares during the period. Finally, CW Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of MSCI by 2.0% during the second quarter. CW Advisors LLC now owns 10,772 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $6,213,000 after purchasing an additional 211 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore increased their price objective on shares of MSCI from $655.00 to $690.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of MSCI from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $655.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on MSCI from $618.00 to $545.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Bank of America started coverage on MSCI in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $700.00 price objective for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MSCI currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $665.89.

Insider Transactions at MSCI

In related news, CFO Andrew C. Wiechmann sold 450 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owned 22,544 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,624,640. This represents a 1.96% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $524.18 per share, for a total transaction of $3,145,080.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,493,047 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $782,625,376.46. This represents a 0.40% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 3.76% of the stock is owned by insiders.

MSCI Price Performance

Shares of MSCI stock opened at $543.78 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $555.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $562.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.95 billion, a PE ratio of 34.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.30. MSCI Inc has a 1-year low of $486.73 and a 1-year high of $626.28.

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

MSCI Increases Dividend

The business 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 represents a $8.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. This is an increase from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.80. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 13th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is 52.26%.

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.