Eisler Capital Management Ltd. Makes New Investment in MSCI Inc $MSCI

Key Points

• Eisler Capital Management Ltd. has acquired a new stake in MSCI Inc, purchasing 9,643 shares valued at approximately $5.45 million, as revealed in its 13F filing.
• Insider trading activity showed MSCI’s CEO, Henry A. Fernandez, bought nearly 10,000 shares for over $5.4 million, raising his total ownership to about $697 million.
• MSCI recently announced a quarterly dividend of $1.80 per share, representing an annual yield of 1.3%, with an ex-dividend date set for August 15th.

Eisler Capital Management Ltd. bought a new position in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 9,643 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $5,453,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Menard Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in MSCI in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Olde Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in MSCI in the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in MSCI by 136.4% in the 1st quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 52 shares of the technology company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in MSCI by 293.8% in the 4th quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 63 shares of the technology company's stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. increased its holdings in MSCI by 50.0% in the 1st quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 66 shares of the technology company's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at MSCI

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 84 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The shares were bought at an average price of $548.69 per share, for a total transaction of $46,089.96. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,279,951 shares in the company, valued at approximately $702,296,314.19. This trade represents a 0.01% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In the last 90 days, insiders bought 12,400 shares of company stock worth $6,731,599. 3.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

MSCI Price Performance

Shares of MSCI stock traded down $0.98 on Friday, hitting $567.57. 498,985 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 616,803. MSCI Inc has a one year low of $486.73 and a one year high of $642.45. The company has a fifty day moving average of $565.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $559.98. The company has a market capitalization of $43.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.29.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The technology company reported $4.17 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.12 by $0.05. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 143.13% and a net margin of 39.46%.The company had revenue of $772.68 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $763.06 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.64 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th were given a dividend of $1.80 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. MSCI's dividend payout ratio is presently 47.68%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on MSCI shares. Raymond James Financial raised MSCI from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $650.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, July 25th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on MSCI from $578.00 to $533.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on MSCI from $650.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on MSCI from $655.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $654.73.

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.