MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) Hits New 52-Week High - Here's Why

Key Points

• MSCI hit a 52-week high, reaching $660.60 and trading around $661, up 4.7% from its prior close.
• The company beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates: EPS was $5.11 versus $5.03 expected, while revenue rose 12.4% year over year to $892 million.
• Analysts maintain a Moderate Buy consensus rating, with an average price target of $683.69. MSCI also declared a quarterly dividend of $2.05 per share.

MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report)'s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday. The company traded as high as $660.60 and last traded at $661.0490, with a volume of 30,101 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $639.78.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on MSCI. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating and set a $680.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research note on Tuesday, October 20th. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, October 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $684.00 price target (down from $704.00) on shares of MSCI in a research report on Tuesday, October 20th. Bank of America increased their price objective on MSCI from $715.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $655.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MSCI has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $683.69.

MSCI Trading Up 4.7%

The company has a market cap of $47.90 billion, a PE ratio of 35.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 1.20. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $570.03 and a two-hundred day moving average of $574.02.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 20th. The technology company reported $5.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.03 by $0.08. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 50.69% and a net margin of 40.31%. The business had revenue of $892.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $887.83 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $4.47 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that MSCI Inc will post 19.59 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 13th will be issued a dividend of $2.05 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 13th. This represents a $8.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. MSCI's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling at MSCI

In other news, General Counsel Robert Gutowski sold 2,381 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $623.66, for a total value of $1,484,934.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel owned 14,104 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,796,100.64. The trade was a 14.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Andrew Wiechmann sold 450 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $570.00, for a total transaction of $256,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 21,644 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,337,080. The trade was a 2.04% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 3.76% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in MSCI in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $3,062,626,000. Bamco Inc. NY bought a new stake in MSCI during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,798,710,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in MSCI during the second quarter valued at approximately $480,613,000. Generation Investment Management LLP purchased a new position in MSCI during the second quarter valued at approximately $301,493,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in MSCI during the second quarter valued at approximately $257,687,000. 89.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MSCI Company Profile

MSCI Inc NYSE: MSCI is a global provider of investment decision-support tools and services for institutional investors, asset managers, banks and other financial institutions. The company is best known for developing equity, fixed-income and multi-asset indexes used to benchmark portfolios and support the creation of investment products such as exchange-traded funds.

In addition to its indexes, MSCI provides portfolio analytics, risk-management and performance-attribution tools, as well as research and data covering environmental, social and governance factors, climate risk and sustainable investing.

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