Handelsbanken Fonder AB Sells 2,682 Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB lessened its holdings in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 13.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 17,674 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 2,682 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in MSCI were worth $9,997,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of MSCI by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,427 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $807,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of MSCI by 56.7% during the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 282 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $160,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the period. abrdn plc lifted its stake in shares of MSCI by 346.0% during the fourth quarter. abrdn plc now owns 108,080 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $61,135,000 after acquiring an additional 83,849 shares during the period. CNB Bank lifted its stake in shares of MSCI by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. CNB Bank now owns 859 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $486,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. Finally, Greenleaf Trust lifted its stake in shares of MSCI by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 2,684 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,518,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on MSCI shares. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised MSCI from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their target price for the company from $613.00 to $569.00 in a research note on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on MSCI from $615.00 to $526.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Raymond James reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of MSCI in a research note on Friday, January 5th. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on MSCI from $700.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $562.87.

MSCI Price Performance

NYSE MSCI opened at $464.81 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $545.76 and its 200-day moving average is $538.56. The firm has a market cap of $36.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.06. MSCI Inc. has a one year low of $439.95 and a one year high of $617.39.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $3.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.44 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $680.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $685.47 million. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 111.33% and a net margin of 44.55%. The business’s revenue was up 14.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.14 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc. will post 14.81 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid a $1.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.38%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is 43.69%.

MSCI Company Profile

MSCI Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides critical decision support tools and solutions for the investment community to manage investment processes worldwide. The Index segment provides indexes for use in various areas of the investment process, including indexed financial product, such as ETFs, mutual funds, annuities, futures, options, structured products, and over-the-counter derivatives; performance benchmarking; portfolio construction and rebalancing; and asset allocation, as well as licenses GICS and GICS Direct.