MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) CEO Acquires $415,160.00 in Stock

MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) CEO Henry Fernandez bought 800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $518.95 per share, for a total transaction of $415,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,493,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $775,231,900.65. This represents a 0.05% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

MSCI Price Performance

NYSE:MSCI opened at $540.41 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $39.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.44, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.29. MSCI Inc has a 1 year low of $486.73 and a 1 year high of $626.28. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $572.65 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $565.18.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The technology company reported $4.66 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.62 by $0.04. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 82.59% and a net margin of 38.36%.The firm had revenue of $822.53 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $819.51 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $4.18 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 EPS for the current year.

MSCI announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, October 28th that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the technology company to repurchase up to 7.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 13th will be given a dividend of $2.05 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 13th. This represents a $8.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. This is a positive change from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.80. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.26%.

Institutional Trading of MSCI

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. purchased a new position in MSCI during the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of MSCI during the third quarter valued at $28,000. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of MSCI by 341.7% during the fourth quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC now owns 53 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in shares of MSCI in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Eagle Bay Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in MSCI in the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on MSCI from $655.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating and set a $715.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of MSCI from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $655.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of MSCI in a report on Tuesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $700.00 target price for the company. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $671.78.

About MSCI

MSCI Inc is a global provider of investment decision support tools and services for the financial industry. The company is best known for its family of market indexes, which are widely used as benchmarks by asset managers and as the basis for exchange-traded funds and other passive products. In addition to index construction and licensing, MSCI offers portfolio analytics, risk models, factor and performance attribution tools, and a suite of data and technology solutions designed to support portfolio management and trading.

Beyond traditional indexing and risk analytics, MSCI has expanded into environmental, social and governance (ESG) research and ratings, offering data, scores and screening tools that help investors integrate sustainability considerations into investment processes.