MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) Trading Down 0.6%

MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)’s stock price fell 0.6% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $468.43 and last traded at $468.54. 164,191 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 71% from the average session volume of 571,643 shares. The stock had previously closed at $471.40.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on MSCI. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of MSCI from $615.00 to $526.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on MSCI from $671.00 to $615.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Redburn Atlantic lowered MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $620.00 to $470.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Bank of America raised MSCI from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $425.00 to $525.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, StockNews.com cut MSCI from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $569.53.

MSCI Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $37.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.09. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $528.77 and its 200-day moving average is $536.16.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last posted its earnings results 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 net margin of 44.55% and a negative return on equity of 121.86%. The firm had revenue of $680.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $685.47 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.14 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 14.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that MSCI Inc. will post 14.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid a $1.60 dividend. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.36%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.69%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Scott A. Crum sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $471.69, for a total value of $4,245,210.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,831 shares in the company, valued at $6,052,254.39. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, COO Cd Baer Pettit purchased 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 acquisition, the chief operating officer now owns 291,038 shares in the company, valued at $133,705,767.58. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Scott A. Crum sold 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $471.69, for a total transaction of $4,245,210.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,831 shares in the company, valued at $6,052,254.39. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MSCI

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Optiver Holding B.V. acquired a new position in shares of MSCI in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of MSCI during the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. ORG Partners LLC grew its position 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 worth $29,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the period. Headinvest LLC acquired a new position in shares of MSCI during the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, American National Bank boosted its stake in MSCI by 1,300.0% during the fourth quarter. American National Bank now owns 70 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. 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.