MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) Plans $1.80 Quarterly Dividend

MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, July 23rd, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of 1.80 per share by the technology company on Friday, August 29th. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th.

MSCI has a payout ratio of 38.2% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect MSCI to earn $19.04 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $7.20 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 37.8%.

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of MSCI stock traded up $6.19 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $549.50. 374,673 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 576,244. MSCI has a 12 month low of $486.73 and a 12 month high of $642.45. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $564.87 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $566.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.51 billion, a PE ratio of 36.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.32.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The technology company reported $4.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 the consensus estimate of $763.06 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.64 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that MSCI will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of MSCI 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 sale, the chief operating officer owned 289,787 shares in the company, valued at $160,133,398.33. This trade represents a 1.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 3.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MSCI

An institutional investor recently raised its position in MSCI stock. Woodline Partners LP boosted its position in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 39.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,585 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,846 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP's holdings in MSCI were worth $3,724,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of MSCI from $650.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of MSCI from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $675.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of MSCI in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $585.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $650.17.

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.