MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) COO Buys $3,445,575.00 in Stock

MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) COO Cd Baer Pettit purchased 7,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $459.41 per share, for a total transaction of $3,445,575.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 291,038 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $133,705,767.58. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

MSCI Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MSCI traded up $13.29 during trading on Friday, hitting $477.78. The stock had a trading volume of 1,039,958 shares, compared to its average volume of 547,278. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $541.71 and a two-hundred day moving average of $537.78. MSCI Inc. has a 12 month low of $439.95 and a 12 month high of $617.39. The company has a market capitalization of $37.85 billion, a PE ratio of 32.61, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.06.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $3.52 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.44 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $680.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $685.47 million. MSCI had a net margin of 44.55% and a negative return on equity of 121.86%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 14.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.14 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that MSCI Inc. will post 14.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid a $1.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.34%. MSCI's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.69%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MSCI

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its stake in shares of MSCI by 12.2% during the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 165 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $93,000 after buying an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Advisors LLC boosted its position in MSCI by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Legacy Advisors LLC now owns 664 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $376,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC lifted its position in MSCI by 23.5% in the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 100 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Balentine LLC raised its holdings in MSCI by 3.6% in the third quarter. Balentine LLC now owns 572 shares of the technology company's stock worth $293,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of MSCI by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,080 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,177,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on MSCI from $615.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of MSCI in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. They issued a "peer perform" rating for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $638.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a report on Friday, April 12th. Barclays lowered their price objective on MSCI from $700.00 to $600.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of MSCI from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $613.00 to $569.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MSCI has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $562.87.

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.