MSCI Gains After Third-Quarter Earnings Beat and Strong Asset-Based Fee Growth

MSCI Inc. (MSCI) is up 4.5% today. Here is some analysis on what might have caused this price movement.

Analysis: The most likely driver is a solid third-quarter earnings report released on October 20, 2026, with results that came in ahead of Wall Street expectations. Investors also appear to be responding to strong growth in asset-based fees, record sales commentary in several business lines, and continued capital returns through buybacks and a higher quarterly dividend.

Details:

MSCI reported third-quarter operating revenue of $892.0 million, up 12.4% from a year earlier, while adjusted EPS rose to $5.11.

Consensus forecasts going into the report were slightly lower on both revenue and earnings, so the release looks to have been received as a beat.

Asset-based fees climbed 24.9%, and MSCI highlighted record quarter performance in asset-based fees along with best-ever recurring net-new sales in Analytics and Private Capital Solutions.

The board declared a fourth-quarter cash dividend of $2.05 per share, and the company said it had repurchased $627.2 million of stock in the quarter and through October 19, 2026.

Sources:

MSCI, MarketBeat, AP News

Disclaimer: This price movement analysis was generated with the help of AI. Please double-check the information provided for mistakes.

$MSCI Insider Trading Activity

$MSCI insiders have traded $MSCI stock on the open market 12 times in the past 6 months. Of those trades, 8 have been purchases and 4 have been sales.

Here’s a breakdown of recent trading of $MSCI stock by insiders over the last 6 months:

ALVISE J. MUNARI (Chief Product Officer) has made 0 purchases and 2 sales selling 10,000 shares for an estimated $5,920,351.
HENRY A FERNANDEZ (Chairman and CEO) has made 7 purchases buying 4,000 shares for an estimated $2,249,591 and 0 sales.
RAJAT TANEJA purchased 1,786 shares for an estimated $1,000,160
ANDREW C. WIECHMANN (Chief Financial Officer) has made 0 purchases and 2 sales selling 900 shares for an estimated $528,552.

To track insider transactions, check out Quiver Quantitative's insider trading dashboard. You can access data on insider stock transactions through the Quiver Quantitative API insider transaction endpoint.

$MSCI Hedge Fund Activity

We have seen 484 institutional investors add shares of $MSCI stock to their portfolio, and 509 decrease their positions in their most recent quarter.

Here are some of the largest recent moves:

VIKING GLOBAL INVESTORS LP added 1,160,687 shares (+inf%) to their portfolio in Q2 2026, for an estimated $650,031,147
T. ROWE PRICE INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT, INC. added 1,093,412 shares (+114.4%) to their portfolio in Q2 2026, for an estimated $612,354,456
EDGEWOOD MANAGEMENT LLC removed 737,894 shares (-52.6%) from their portfolio in Q2 2026, for an estimated $413,250,155
SIXTH STREET PARTNERS MANAGEMENT COMPANY, L.P. added 597,876 shares (+inf%) to their portfolio in Q2 2026, for an estimated $334,834,475
JPMORGAN CHASE & CO added 581,611 shares (+inf%) to their portfolio in Q2 2026, for an estimated $325,725,424
WINSLOW CAPITAL MANAGEMENT, LLC added 529,653 shares (+inf%) to their portfolio in Q2 2026, for an estimated $296,626,866
BAMCO INC /NY/ added 512,364 shares (+19.0%) to their portfolio in Q2 2026, for an estimated $286,944,334

To track hedge funds' stock portfolios, check out Quiver Quantitative's institutional holdings dashboard. You can access data on hedge funds moves and 13F filings through the Quiver Quantitative API 13F endpoint.

$MSCI Government Contracts

We have seen $377,907 of award payments to $MSCI over the last year.

Here are some of the awards which we have have seen pay out the most over the last year:

SUBSCRIPTION TO ENVIRONMENTAL, SOCIAL AND GOVERNANCE (ESG) DATA.: $46,000
PRIVATE CAPITAL BENCHMARK CALCULATOR - UNIVERSE ANALYTICS: $38,660
IT AND TELECOM - BUSINESS APPLICATION/APPLICATION DEVELOPMENT SOFTWARE AS A SERVICE: $18,347

To track government contracts to publicy traded companies, check out Quiver Quantitative's government contracts dashboard. You can access data on government contracts through the Quiver Quantitative API government contracts endpoint.

$MSCI Price Targets

Multiple analysts have issued price targets for $MSCI recently. We have seen 2 analysts offer price targets for $MSCI in the last 6 months, with a median target of $730.0.

Here are some recent targets:

Patrick O'Shaughnessy from Raymond James set a target price of $760.0 on 07/08/2026
Jason Haas from Wells Fargo set a target price of $700.0 on 05/27/2026

This article is not financial advice. See Quiver Quantitative's disclaimers for more information. Note that there may be inaccuracies due to mistakes in ticker-mapping, and other anomalies.