MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday. The technology company reported $4.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.12 by $0.05, Zacks reports. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 143.13% and a net margin of 39.46%. 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 business earned $3.64 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year.

MSCI Stock Up 2.7%

Shares of MSCI traded up $14.34 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $545.20. The company had a trading volume of 777,169 shares, compared to its average volume of 573,895. The company's 50 day moving average price is $565.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $567.07. The stock has a market cap of $42.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.16, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.32. MSCI has a 52 week low of $486.73 and a 52 week high of $642.45.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be given a $1.80 dividend. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. MSCI's payout ratio is currently 49.48%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on MSCI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on MSCI from $650.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of MSCI from $578.00 to $533.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of MSCI from $673.00 to $631.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Oppenheimer reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Barclays cut 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MSCI has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $650.18.

Insider Buying and Selling at MSCI

In other news, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of the business'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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 289,787 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $160,133,398.33. The trade was a 1.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 3.31% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MSCI

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in MSCI stock. Woodline Partners LP grew its stake in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 39.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,585 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,846 shares during the quarter. Woodline Partners LP's holdings in MSCI were worth $3,724,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company's stock.

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.