MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) COO Cd Baer Pettit Buys 7,500 Shares

MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) COO Cd Baer Pettit bought 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 25th. The stock was bought at an average price of $459.41 per share, for a total transaction of $3,445,575.00. Following the purchase, the chief operating officer now owns 291,038 shares in the company, valued at approximately $133,705,767.58. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

MSCI Trading Up 2.9 %

Shares of NYSE:MSCI opened at $477.78 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $541.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $537.78. MSCI Inc. has a 52 week low of $439.95 and a 52 week high of $617.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.61, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.06.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $3.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.44 by $0.08. MSCI had a net margin of 44.55% and a negative return on equity of 121.86%. The company had revenue of $680.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $685.47 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.14 earnings per share. MSCI’s revenue was up 14.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that MSCI Inc. will post 14.59 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid 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 1.34%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.69%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors increased its stake in shares of MSCI by 7.6% during the first quarter. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors now owns 797 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $447,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the period. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of MSCI by 35.7% during the first quarter. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 612 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $343,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the period. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund increased its stake in shares of MSCI by 1.4% during the first 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 acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Simplicity Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of MSCI during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,353,000. Finally, E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of 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 valued at $613,000 after acquiring an additional 886 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MSCI shares. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of MSCI in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $638.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective 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. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Raymond James reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of MSCI in a research note on Friday, January 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $562.87.

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.