MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) Insider Alvise Munari Sells 10,000 Shares

Key Points

• Insider sale: MSCI insider Alvise Munari sold 10,000 shares on April 24 at an average price of $592.04 for about $5.92 million, leaving him with 23,548 shares (a 29.81% reduction) as disclosed in an SEC filing.
• Quarterly beat and growth: MSCI reported $4.55 EPS (vs. $4.38 consensus) and revenue of $850.8 million, up 14.1% year-over-year, with a net margin of 40.74%.
• Dividend announced: The company declared a quarterly dividend of $2.05 (annualized $8.20), with an ex-dividend date of May 15 and payment on May 29, implying a yield of about 1.4%.

MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) insider Alvise Munari sold 10,000 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $592.04, for a total value of $5,920,400.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 23,548 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,941,357.92. This represents a 29.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

MSCI Stock Performance

MSCI stock traded up $3.95 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $594.97. 628,318 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 617,958. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $555.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $562.56. The company has a market cap of $43.31 billion, a PE ratio of 33.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.30. MSCI Inc has a one year low of $501.08 and a one year high of $626.28.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The technology company reported $4.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.38 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $850.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $830.91 million. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 65.48% and a net margin of 40.74%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $4.00 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that MSCI Inc will post 19.61 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be issued a $2.05 dividend. This represents a $8.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. MSCI's payout ratio is 46.83%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MSCI. Evercore boosted their price target on MSCI from $655.00 to $690.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $655.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded MSCI from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a "buy" rating and issued a $715.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $730.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, MSCI currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $692.70.

Institutional Trading of MSCI

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MSCI. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI in the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI in the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of MSCI by 341.7% in the fourth quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC now owns 53 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Eagle Bay Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company's stock.

MSCI Company Profile

MSCI Inc is a global provider of investment decision support tools and services for the financial industry. The company is best known for its family of market indexes, which are widely used as benchmarks by asset managers and as the basis for exchange-traded funds and other passive products. In addition to index construction and licensing, MSCI offers portfolio analytics, risk models, factor and performance attribution tools, and a suite of data and technology solutions designed to support portfolio management and trading.

Beyond traditional indexing and risk analytics, MSCI has expanded into environmental, social and governance (ESG) research and ratings, offering data, scores and screening tools that help investors integrate sustainability considerations into investment processes.

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