MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Short Interest Update

MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,510,000 shares, an increase of 69.2% from the April 30th total of 892,200 shares. Currently, 2.0% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 564,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.7 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSCI has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America began coverage on MSCI in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $585.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $675.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Barclays decreased their price target on MSCI from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of MSCI from $680.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of MSCI from $673.00 to $631.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $645.36.

MSCI Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of MSCI stock traded down $0.12 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $563.90. The company's stock had a trading volume of 299,090 shares, compared to its average volume of 512,328. The business has a fifty day moving average of $550.65 and a 200 day moving average of $577.35. MSCI has a 1-year low of $475.32 and a 1-year high of $642.45. The company has a market capitalization of $43.63 billion, a PE ratio of 40.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.33.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The technology company reported $4.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.88 by $0.12. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 156.08% and a net margin of 38.83%. The firm had revenue of $745.83 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $746.45 million. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that MSCI will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th were paid a $1.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 16th. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.28%. MSCI's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.48%.

Insider Activity at MSCI

In other MSCI news, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $552.59, for a total value of $2,762,950.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 289,787 shares in the company, valued at approximately $160,133,398.33. This represents a 1.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 3.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MSCI

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MSCI. Strs Ohio acquired a new stake in MSCI in the first quarter valued at approximately $42,865,000. Advisors Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in MSCI by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 10,434 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $5,901,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in MSCI by 102.6% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 81,582 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $46,122,000 after purchasing an additional 41,309 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth increased its stake in MSCI by 10.1% during the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 24,728 shares of the technology company's stock worth $13,984,000 after buying an additional 2,277 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its holdings in MSCI by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 499,001 shares of the technology company's stock worth $282,185,000 after buying an additional 21,967 shares in the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.