Short Interest in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Expands By 33.5%

MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) saw a large increase in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,090,000 shares, an increase of 33.5% from the March 31st total of 816,300 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 546,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.0 days. Approximately 1.4% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

MSCI Stock Performance

MSCI stock traded up $13.29 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $477.78. 1,040,942 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 758,208. MSCI has a 12-month low of $439.95 and a 12-month high of $617.39. The stock has a market cap of $37.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.06. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $541.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $538.00.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last released 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. MSCI had a net margin of 44.55% and a negative return on equity of 121.86%. The company had revenue of $680.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $685.47 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.14 EPS. The business's revenue was up 14.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that MSCI will post 14.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSCI has been the topic of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $638.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a report on Friday, April 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of MSCI from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $613.00 to $569.00 in a report on Wednesday. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $600.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of MSCI from $530.00 to $425.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of MSCI in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. They issued a "peer perform" rating on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, MSCI currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $562.87.

Insider Activity at MSCI

In other news, COO Cd Baer Pettit purchased 7,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 25th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $459.41 per share, with a total value of $3,445,575.00. Following the purchase, the chief operating officer now directly owns 291,038 shares in the company, valued at approximately $133,705,767.58. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, COO Cd Baer Pettit acquired 7,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 acquisition, the chief operating officer now owns 291,038 shares in the company, valued at approximately $133,705,767.58. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 13,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 25th. The stock was bought at an average price of $465.92 per share, for a total transaction of $6,056,960.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 327,479 shares in the company, valued at approximately $152,579,015.68. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of MSCI

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MSCI. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its stake in shares of MSCI by 348.7% in the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 341 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $175,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of MSCI by 4.5% in the third quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 669 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $343,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of MSCI by 3.2% in the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 41,052 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $21,063,000 after purchasing an additional 1,291 shares during the period. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of MSCI by 25.3% in the third quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 545 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $280,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the period. Finally, Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI in the third quarter valued at about $832,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.