MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Insider Sells $4,245,210.00 in Stock

MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) insider Scott A. Crum sold 9,000 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $471.69, for a total value of $4,245,210.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 12,831 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,052,254.39. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

MSCI Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of MSCI stock traded up $3.95 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $469.74. 920,090 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 562,034. MSCI Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $439.95 and a fifty-two week high of $617.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.06. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $536.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $536.91.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $3.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.44 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $680.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $685.47 million. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 121.86% and a net margin of 44.55%. MSCI's revenue was up 14.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.14 EPS. Analysts predict that MSCI Inc. will post 14.59 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be issued a $1.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.36%. MSCI's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.69%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Redburn Atlantic lowered MSCI from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $620.00 to $470.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised MSCI from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $613.00 to $569.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on MSCI from $671.00 to $615.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $638.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on MSCI from $615.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $569.53.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its position in shares of MSCI by 12.2% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 165 shares of the technology company's stock worth $93,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the period. Legacy Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of MSCI by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Legacy Advisors LLC now owns 664 shares of the technology company's stock worth $376,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC raised its position in shares of MSCI by 23.5% in the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 100 shares of the technology company's stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 19 shares during the period. Balentine LLC raised its position in shares of MSCI by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Balentine LLC now owns 572 shares of the technology company's stock worth $293,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Finally, Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of MSCI by 1.0% in the 4th 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 during the period. 89.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.