Prudential Financial Inc. Decreases Stake in MSCI Inc $MSCI

Prudential Financial Inc. lowered its stake in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) by 59.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 79,809 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 117,567 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in MSCI were worth $46,029,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in MSCI by 136.4% in the first quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 52 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Steph & Co. acquired a new position in shares of MSCI during the second quarter worth approximately $35,000. Banque Transatlantique SA increased its holdings in shares of MSCI by 355.6% during the first quarter. Banque Transatlantique SA now owns 82 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd raised its position in shares of MSCI by 2,666.7% during the 1st quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 83 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. lifted its position in MSCI by 47.0% in the second quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 97 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Stock Down 0.9%

MSCI stock opened at $556.85 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $41.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.29, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 1.34. MSCI Inc has a twelve month low of $486.73 and a twelve month high of $642.45. The business has a fifty day moving average of $562.50 and a 200-day moving average of $563.54.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The technology company reported $4.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.37 by $0.10. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 110.94% and a net margin of 40.03%.The business had revenue of $793.43 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $794.87 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.86 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 28th. Investors of record on Friday, November 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.80 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 14th. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.63%.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on MSCI. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $710.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on MSCI from $533.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of MSCI from $655.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on MSCI from $650.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, MSCI presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $655.90.

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.