Henry A. Fernandez Buys 9,916 Shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) Stock

Key Points

• MSCI Inc CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 9,916 shares of the company's stock for a total of $5,401,245.20, increasing his ownership by 0.78% to a total of 1,279,867 shares.
• The company reported $4.17 EPS for the last quarter, beating the consensus estimate by $0.05, with a revenue of $772.68 million—an increase of 9.1% compared to the previous year.
• MSCI announced a quarterly dividend of $1.80 per share, resulting in a 1.30% yield, with the ex-dividend date set for August 15th.

MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 9,916 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 24th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $544.70 per share, with a total value of $5,401,245.20. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 1,279,867 shares in the company, valued at $697,143,554.90. This represents a 0.78% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

MSCI Trading Down 0.7%

NYSE:MSCI traded down $3.76 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $557.60. The company's stock had a trading volume of 189,946 shares, compared to its average volume of 595,420. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $563.67 and a 200-day moving average of $565.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.32. MSCI Inc has a 52-week low of $486.73 and a 52-week high of $642.45.

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

MSCI Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be given a $1.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. MSCI's payout ratio is 47.68%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MSCI

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSCI. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in MSCI by 16,353.6% in the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 587,557 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $352,539,000 after buying an additional 583,986 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of MSCI by 5.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,376,852 shares of the technology company's stock worth $5,302,610,000 after purchasing an additional 518,833 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of MSCI by 355.7% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 660,690 shares of the technology company's stock worth $365,976,000 after purchasing an additional 515,713 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of MSCI by 61,179.6% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 505,557 shares of the technology company's stock worth $285,892,000 after purchasing an additional 504,732 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of MSCI by 3,881.3% during the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 419,429 shares of the technology company's stock worth $251,662,000 after purchasing an additional 408,894 shares in the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSCI has been the subject of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on MSCI from $578.00 to $533.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on MSCI from $673.00 to $631.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Raymond James Financial upgraded MSCI from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $650.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on MSCI from $650.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $675.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price 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.