MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) Shares Up 0.4%

MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)’s stock price rose 0.4% on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $479.23 and last traded at $477.36. Approximately 116,899 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 79% from the average daily volume of 568,107 shares. The stock had previously closed at $475.49.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on MSCI shares. StockNews.com cut MSCI from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of MSCI from $615.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on MSCI in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of MSCI from $615.00 to $526.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $569.53.

MSCI Trading Down 0.9 %

The business’s fifty day moving average is $530.50 and its 200 day moving average is $536.29. The company has a market cap of $37.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.58, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.09.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $3.52 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.44 by $0.08. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 121.86% and a net margin of 44.55%. The business had revenue of $680.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $685.47 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.14 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 14.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that MSCI Inc. will post 14.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid a $1.60 dividend. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.36%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. MSCI’s payout ratio is 43.69%.

Insider Buying and Selling at MSCI

In other MSCI news, COO Cd Baer Pettit bought 7,500 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 25th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $459.41 per share, with a total value of $3,445,575.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief operating officer now owns 291,038 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $133,705,767.58. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, COO Cd Baer Pettit purchased 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 25th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $459.41 per share, with a total value of $3,445,575.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 291,038 shares in the company, valued at approximately $133,705,767.58. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 13,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 25th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $465.92 per share, with a total value of $6,056,960.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 327,479 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $152,579,015.68. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Optiver Holding B.V. acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI in the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI during the first quarter valued at $26,000. ORG Partners LLC increased its position in shares of MSCI by 5,600.0% in the 3rd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 57 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the period. Headinvest LLC purchased a new position in MSCI in the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Finally, American National Bank lifted its position in MSCI by 1,300.0% during the 4th quarter. American National Bank now owns 70 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.