MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Short Interest Down 13.0% in June

MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) saw a significant decline in short interest in the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,140,000 shares, a decline of 13.0% from the May 31st total of 1,310,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 696,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.6 days. Currently, 1.5% of the shares of the company are sold short.

MSCI Trading Up 2.5 %

NYSE MSCI traded up $12.11 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $491.42. The company had a trading volume of 420,446 shares, compared to its average volume of 588,731. MSCI has a one year low of $439.95 and a one year high of $617.39. The company has a market cap of $38.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.10. The company’s fifty day moving average is $484.58 and its 200-day moving average is $530.48.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $3.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.44 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $680.00 million during 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%. MSCI’s quarterly revenue was up 14.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.14 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that MSCI will post 14.66 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 31st. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th were paid a $1.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.30%. MSCI’s payout ratio is 43.69%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Scott A. Crum sold 9,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 30th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $6,052,254.39. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, COO Cd Baer Pettit purchased 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 $133,705,767.58. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Scott A. Crum sold 9,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $471.69, for a total transaction of $4,245,210.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,831 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,052,254.39. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new stake in MSCI during the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. Headinvest LLC bought a new stake in MSCI during the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new stake in MSCI during the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000. American National Bank increased its stake in MSCI by 1,300.0% during the 4th quarter. American National Bank now owns 70 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First United Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI during the 4th quarter valued at about $48,000. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of MSCI from $671.00 to $615.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Bank of America raised shares of MSCI from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $425.00 to $525.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of MSCI from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $613.00 to $569.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $485.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, May 13th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $570.53.

About MSCI

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.