MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) Shares Up 2.7%

Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) shot up 2.7% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $502.00 and last traded at $501.64. 140,919 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 76% from the average session volume of 578,218 shares. The stock had previously closed at $488.46.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MSCI. Morgan Stanley reduced 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. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price 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. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Wolfe Research began coverage on MSCI in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded MSCI from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $570.53.

MSCI Stock Up 1.6 %

The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $517.77 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $535.73. The stock has a market cap of $40.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.49, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.09.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $3.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 analyst estimates of $685.47 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.14 EPS. MSCI’s quarterly revenue was up 14.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that MSCI Inc. will post 14.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th will be given a dividend of $1.60 per share. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.69%.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Cd Baer Pettit bought 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 25th. The stock was acquired at an average price 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 directly owns 291,038 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $133,705,767.58. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other MSCI news, COO Cd Baer Pettit acquired 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 25th. The stock was 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 owns 291,038 shares in the company, valued at approximately $133,705,767.58. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Scott A. Crum sold 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $471.69, for a total value of $4,245,210.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 12,831 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,052,254.39. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 36,043 shares during the period. Bamco Inc. NY raised its stake in shares of MSCI by 0.7% in the third quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 2,260,105 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,159,615,000 after purchasing an additional 15,184 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 1.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,893,728 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $971,634,000 after purchasing an additional 30,528 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its position in shares of MSCI by 0.5% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,734,519 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $972,111,000 after buying an additional 9,304 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in MSCI by 14.0% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,460,634 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $749,422,000 after buying an additional 179,508 shares in the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.