MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) Stock Price Down 2.1%

MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) shares were down 2.1% on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $492.01 and last traded at $493.14. Approximately 174,574 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 70% from the average daily volume of 588,168 shares. The stock had previously closed at $503.83.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MSCI. Bank of America upgraded MSCI from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $425.00 to $525.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. UBS Group cut their price objective 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. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $485.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, May 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of MSCI from $615.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, MSCI presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $570.53.

MSCI Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $39.06 billion, a PE ratio of 33.65, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $512.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $536.28.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $3.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.14 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that MSCI Inc. will post 14.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.69%.

Insider Activity at MSCI

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

Institutional Trading of MSCI

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Optiver Holding B.V. purchased a new position in MSCI during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new position in MSCI in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $26,000. ORG Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of MSCI by 5,600.0% during the 3rd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 57 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the period. Headinvest LLC purchased a new position in shares of MSCI during the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of MSCI in the first quarter worth $34,000. 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.