MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) Sets New 12-Month High Following Insider Buying Activity

MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday after an insider bought additional shares in the company. The stock traded as high as $633.48 and last traded at $632.26, with a volume of 110771 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $618.50.

Specifically, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 2,900 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $612.80 per share, for a total transaction of $1,777,120.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 330,379 shares in the company, valued at approximately $202,456,251.20. This represents a 0.89 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSCI has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Redburn Atlantic upgraded MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $680.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $638.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $690.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of MSCI from $695.00 to $680.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of MSCI from $570.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $631.83.

MSCI Trading Up 2.2 %

The firm has a 50-day moving average of $596.41 and a two-hundred day moving average of $551.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.62, a P/E/G ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.10.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The technology company reported $3.86 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.77 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $724.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $716.15 million. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 162.06% and a net margin of 43.06%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.45 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc. will post 14.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were paid a $1.60 dividend. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.02%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in MSCI by 30.0% in the third quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 564 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $329,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust grew its position in shares of MSCI by 52.4% during the 3rd quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 3,779 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,203,000 after buying an additional 1,299 shares during the period. Xponance Inc. lifted its position in shares of MSCI by 29.6% during the 2nd quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 21,384 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $10,302,000 after acquiring an additional 4,890 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its stake in MSCI by 339.6% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 26,834 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $15,642,000 after acquiring an additional 20,730 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Scientech Research LLC grew its holdings in MSCI by 188.3% in the second quarter. Scientech Research LLC now owns 2,249 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,083,000 after purchasing an additional 1,469 shares during the period. 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.