MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) CEO Purchases $6,056,960.00 in Stock

MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 13,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $465.92 per share, with a total value of $6,056,960.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 327,479 shares in the company, valued at $152,579,015.68. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

MSCI Stock Up 2.9 %

NYSE:MSCI opened at $477.78 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $37.85 billion, a PE ratio of 32.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.06. MSCI Inc. has a 52-week low of $439.95 and a 52-week high of $617.39. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $541.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $538.00.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $3.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.44 by $0.08. MSCI had a net margin of 44.55% and a negative return on equity of 121.86%. The business had revenue of $680.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $685.47 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.14 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc. will post 14.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be issued a $1.60 dividend. 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 1.34%. MSCI’s payout ratio is 43.69%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MSCI. StockNews.com downgraded MSCI from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of MSCI from $671.00 to $615.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of MSCI from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $613.00 to $569.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $638.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on MSCI from $700.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $562.87.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MSCI

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its stake in MSCI by 12.2% during the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 165 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $93,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of MSCI by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Legacy Advisors LLC now owns 664 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $376,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of MSCI by 23.5% during the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 100 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Balentine LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 3.6% during the third quarter. Balentine LLC now owns 572 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $293,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Finally, Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in MSCI by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,080 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,177,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

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.