MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) Trading Down 0.7%

MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) was down 0.7% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $501.25 and last traded at $501.98. Approximately 138,972 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 76% from the average daily volume of 587,078 shares. The stock had previously closed at $505.53.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on MSCI shares. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of MSCI in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of MSCI from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their price target for the company from $613.00 to $569.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. StockNews.com cut shares of MSCI from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $638.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $570.53.

MSCI Stock Up 0.5 %

The company has a market capitalization of $39.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.62, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.09. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $513.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $536.31.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $3.52 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.44 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $680.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $685.47 million. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 121.86% and a net margin of 44.55%. MSCI’s quarterly revenue was up 14.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.14 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that MSCI Inc. will post 14.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be issued a dividend of $1.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.30%. MSCI’s payout ratio is presently 43.69%.

Insider Buying and Selling at MSCI

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 13,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 25th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $465.92 per share, for a total transaction of $6,056,960.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 327,479 shares in the company, valued at approximately $152,579,015.68. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, insider Scott A. Crum sold 9,000 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $471.69, for a total value of $4,245,210.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,831 shares in the company, valued at $6,052,254.39. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 13,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 25th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $465.92 per share, with a total value of $6,056,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 327,479 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $152,579,015.68. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MSCI

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in MSCI by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,719,381 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,886,777,000 after acquiring an additional 36,043 shares in the last quarter. Bamco Inc. NY lifted its stake in MSCI by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 2,260,105 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,159,615,000 after acquiring an additional 15,184 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in MSCI by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,893,728 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $971,634,000 after acquiring an additional 30,528 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in MSCI by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,734,519 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $972,111,000 after acquiring an additional 9,304 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of MSCI by 14.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,460,634 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $749,422,000 after purchasing an additional 179,508 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

About MSCI

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.