Corebridge Financial Inc. Buys 23 Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Corebridge Financial Inc. lifted its stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 0.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,328 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the period. Corebridge Financial Inc.’s holdings in MSCI were worth $12,797,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Stevens Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI during the fourth quarter valued at about $794,000. LPL Financial LLC lifted its position in MSCI by 13.4% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 45,404 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $27,243,000 after acquiring an additional 5,350 shares during the last quarter. Heron Bay Capital Management boosted its stake in MSCI by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Heron Bay Capital Management now owns 11,607 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $6,964,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Fortis Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in MSCI by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Fortis Capital Management LLC now owns 8,227 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $4,936,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fox Run Management L.L.C. acquired a new position in shares of MSCI during the fourth quarter worth $1,649,000. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of MSCI opened at $575.38 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $581.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $588.84. The company has a market capitalization of $44.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.19. MSCI Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $439.95 and a fifty-two week high of $642.45.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.96 by $0.22. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 156.08% and a net margin of 38.83%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.68 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $1.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.25%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is 51.21%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $617.00 to $723.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $675.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, MSCI currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $649.23.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 5,300 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was bought at an average price of $574.51 per share, with a total value of $3,044,903.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 1,269,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $729,599,549.01. This trade represents a 0.42 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.