MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) CEO Acquires $3,044,903.00 in Stock

MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 5,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were bought at an average price of $574.51 per share, for a total transaction of $3,044,903.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,269,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $729,599,549.01. This represents a 0.42 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of MSCI opened at $573.31 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $44.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.11. MSCI Inc. has a 52 week low of $439.95 and a 52 week high of $642.45. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $595.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $588.70.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.96 by $0.22. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 156.08% and a net margin of 38.83%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.68 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $1.80 per share. This is a boost from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.26%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.21%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $675.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Wolfe Research raised shares of MSCI from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $649.23.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MSCI

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MSCI. Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX bought a new position in MSCI during the fourth quarter worth about $842,000. Value Partners Investments Inc. increased its holdings in shares of MSCI by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. now owns 4,285 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,569,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of MSCI by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 180,156 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $108,096,000 after purchasing an additional 4,381 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its position in shares of MSCI by 3,881.3% in the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 419,429 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $251,662,000 after buying an additional 408,894 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Forum Financial Management LP boosted its stake in shares of MSCI by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 553 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $332,000 after buying an additional 32 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.