Vinva Investment Management Ltd Raises Stock Holdings in MSCI Inc $MSCI

Vinva Investment Management Ltd increased its holdings in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) by 34.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 80,689 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 20,606 shares during the period. MSCI comprises 0.9% of Vinva Investment Management Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Vinva Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in MSCI were worth $45,981,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Aviso Financial Inc. increased its stake in MSCI by 2.0% in the third quarter. Aviso Financial Inc. now owns 859 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $487,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the period. Intact Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of MSCI by 16.0% during the second quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 138 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC grew its holdings in shares of MSCI by 0.7% in the second quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 2,772 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,599,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance grew its holdings in shares of MSCI by 4.3% in the third quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 509 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $289,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC increased its stake in MSCI by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC now owns 3,300 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,872,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Price Performance

MSCI stock opened at $569.33 on Friday. MSCI Inc has a 1-year low of $486.73 and a 1-year high of $626.28. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $571.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $565.61. The company has a market capitalization of $41.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.29, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.29.

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

MSCI Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 13th were paid a dividend of $2.05 per share. 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 dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 13th. MSCI’s payout ratio is 52.26%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MSCI. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of MSCI from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Evercore upped their target price on shares of MSCI from $655.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. UBS Group set a $638.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of MSCI in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $700.00 price target for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on MSCI from $590.00 to $618.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. 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 data from MarketBeat.com, MSCI has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $671.78.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $524.18 per share, for a total transaction of $3,145,080.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,493,047 shares in the company, valued at approximately $782,625,376.46. This represents a 0.40% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Andrew C. Wiechmann sold 450 shares of the 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 sale, 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 3.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.