Henry A. Fernandez Purchases 13,000 Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Stock

MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 13,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $465.92 per share, for a total transaction of $6,056,960.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 327,479 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $152,579,015.68. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

MSCI Price Performance

MSCI stock opened at $477.78 on Friday. MSCI Inc. has a 12-month low of $439.95 and a 12-month high of $617.39. The company has a market capitalization of $37.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.06. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $541.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $537.90.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $3.52 earnings per share 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%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.14 EPS. Analysts forecast that MSCI Inc. will post 14.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be issued a dividend of $1.60 per share. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.69%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 7.6% in the 1st quarter. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors now owns 797 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $447,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the period. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 35.7% in the 1st quarter. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 612 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $343,000 after buying an additional 161 shares during the period. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 14,210 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $7,964,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Simplicity Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of MSCI in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,353,000. Finally, E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 426.0% in the 1st quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 1,094 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $613,000 after buying an additional 886 shares during the period. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on MSCI shares. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of MSCI from $530.00 to $425.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of MSCI from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of MSCI from $615.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, MSCI has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $562.87.

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.