MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) Trading Down 7.3% - Should You Sell?

MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report)'s stock price dropped 7.3% on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $550.00 and last traded at $535.70. Approximately 472,930 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 8% from the average daily volume of 513,164 shares. The stock had previously closed at $577.97.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSCI has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays lowered their price target on MSCI from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on MSCI from $650.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $675.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on MSCI from $578.00 to $533.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price target on MSCI from $673.00 to $631.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MSCI currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $650.18.

MSCI Price Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average price of $565.50 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $567.07. The stock has a market cap of $42.19 billion, a PE ratio of 36.12, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.32.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The technology company reported $4.17 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.12 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $772.68 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $763.06 million. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 143.13% and a net margin of 39.46%. MSCI's revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.64 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.80 per share. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. MSCI's dividend payout ratio is presently 49.48%.

Insider Transactions at MSCI

In other MSCI news, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $552.59, for a total transaction 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 3.31% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of MSCI

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MSCI. Ritholtz Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of MSCI by 23.2% in the first quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 812 shares of the technology company's stock worth $459,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of MSCI by 336.4% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 96 shares of the technology company's stock worth $54,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the period. United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund boosted its stake in shares of MSCI by 43.4% in the fourth quarter. United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund now owns 78,111 shares of the technology company's stock worth $46,867,000 after acquiring an additional 23,649 shares during the period. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of MSCI by 6.5% in the first quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 524 shares of the technology company's stock worth $296,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the period. Finally, Rathbones Group PLC boosted its stake in shares of MSCI by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 59,741 shares of the technology company's stock worth $35,845,000 after acquiring an additional 2,123 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company's stock.

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.