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

MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 13,000 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were purchased 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 owns 327,479 shares in the company, valued at $152,579,015.68. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

MSCI Trading Up 2.9 %

MSCI opened at $477.78 on Monday. MSCI Inc. has a 12-month low of $439.95 and a 12-month high of $617.39. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $541.71 and a two-hundred day moving average of $538.00. The firm 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 (NYSE:MSCI) last released 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. The firm had revenue of $680.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $685.47 million. MSCI had a net margin of 44.55% and a negative return on equity of 121.86%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.14 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that MSCI Inc. will post 14.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Shareholders 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 1.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.69%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSCI has been the topic of several analyst reports. 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. UBS Group dropped their target price on MSCI from $700.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Wolfe Research started coverage on MSCI in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $562.87.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MSCI

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors grew its holdings in MSCI by 7.6% during the first quarter. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors now owns 797 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $447,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the period. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of MSCI by 35.7% during the 1st quarter. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 612 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $343,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the period. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund increased its holdings in shares of MSCI by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 14,210 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $7,964,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of MSCI in the 1st quarter valued at $1,353,000. Finally, E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in MSCI by 426.0% during the first quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 1,094 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $613,000 after buying an additional 886 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.