MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) Shares Up 1.8%

Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) rose 1.8% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $480.44 and last traded at $479.40. Approximately 129,326 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 77% from the average daily volume of 574,194 shares. The stock had previously closed at $470.75.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSCI has been the topic of several research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of MSCI from $615.00 to $526.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on MSCI in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. They issued a "peer perform" rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on MSCI from $615.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. StockNews.com cut shares of MSCI from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of MSCI from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their price target for the company from $425.00 to $525.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $569.53.

MSCI Stock Up 2.5 %

The firm has a 50 day moving average of $526.83 and a two-hundred day moving average of $535.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.09.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $3.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.44 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $680.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $685.47 million. MSCI had a net margin of 44.55% and a negative return on equity of 121.86%. The firm'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. Sell-side analysts forecast that MSCI Inc. will post 14.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. MSCI's payout ratio is 43.69%.

Insider Activity at MSCI

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MSCI

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in MSCI during the 4th quarter worth approximately $496,541,000. Impax Asset Management Group plc raised its stake in MSCI by 803.9% during the fourth quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 587,978 shares of the technology company's stock worth $331,906,000 after buying an additional 522,926 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in MSCI by 59.6% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 762,080 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $391,008,000 after buying an additional 284,513 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado boosted its position in MSCI by 3,600.0% during the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 253,636 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $143,469,000 after acquiring an additional 246,781 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in MSCI by 32.5% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 959,894 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $492,502,000 after acquiring an additional 235,290 shares during the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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