ProShare Advisors LLC Reduces Holdings in MSCI Inc $MSCI

ProShare Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) by 14.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,602 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 2,560 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in MSCI were worth $8,853,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of MSCI by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,508,242 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $5,483,783,000 after purchasing an additional 131,390 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in MSCI by 1.4% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,281,311 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,892,463,000 after purchasing an additional 45,547 shares during the period. Bamco Inc. NY increased its position in MSCI by 4.8% in 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 position in MSCI by 1.8% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of MSCI by 6.6% in 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. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting MSCI

Here are the key news stories impacting MSCI this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Index-review activity highlights MSCI’s central role in global markets and reinforces its recurring, subscription-and-licensing revenue model; the firm’s official February 2026 Index Review shows wide-ranging changes that underpin demand for MSCI’s data and index services. MSCI Equity Indexes February 2026 Index Review
• Positive Sentiment: Several high-profile additions (e.g., companies added to MSCI China and Global Standard indexes) typically generate predictable passive inflows into constituents, reinforcing MSCI’s influence on market flows and potentially supporting future demand for index licensing and analytics. Birla Capital, L&T Finance enter MSCI Index
• Neutral Sentiment: Media coverage emphasizes routine mechanical effects (passive funds buying/selling through Feb. 27 implementation) — these index mechanics drive volatility in constituents but do not directly change MSCI’s fee schedule or immediately boost reported revenue. Hesai, Pony AI’s Shares Rise After Being Added to MSCI China Index
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage noting specific company graduations to MSCI benchmarks illustrates the “index effect” window (buying by ETFs/trackers) — useful for trading opportunities in constituents but only an indirect signal for MSCI’s top-line momentum. Here Are the 3 Stocks That Just Graduated to the MSCI World Index
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that MSCI’s latest revamp tilts toward Chinese tech (including first-time robotaxi entrants like Pony.ai and other China-heavy additions) may raise investor concern about increased exposure to China-related regulatory and geopolitical risk, prompting some profit-taking or multiple compression for MSCI shares today. Index compiler MSCI tilts towards Chinese tech stocks in latest revamp
• Negative Sentiment: Elevated headline-driven trading and short-term volatility around implementation dates can pressure MSCI’s stock despite the company’s long-term subscription model — today’s drop appears tied to market digestion of the scope and regional mix of the changes plus broader profit-taking. China stocks win most MSCI index additions in nearly three years

MSCI Stock Performance

MSCI opened at $512.44 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.66, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a fifty day moving average of $573.78 and a 200 day moving average of $566.38. MSCI Inc has a fifty-two week low of $486.73 and a fifty-two week high of $626.28.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 business 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%. The business’s revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.18 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 13th will be paid a dividend of $2.05 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 13th. This is a boost from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.80. This represents a $8.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.26%.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on MSCI shares. Weiss Ratings raised shares of MSCI from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, January 16th. Evercore lifted their target price on shares of MSCI from $655.00 to $690.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $655.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on MSCI from $655.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $690.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $659.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at MSCI

In other news, General Counsel Robert J. Gutowski sold 624 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $558.42, for a total transaction of $348,454.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 15,945 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,904,006.90. This represents a 3.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Andrew C. Wiechmann sold 450 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 21,639 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,901,450. This trade represents a 2.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 3.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

MSCI Profile

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.