Insider Buying: MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) CEO Acquires $3,145,080.00 in Stock

MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) CEO Henry Fernandez acquired 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $524.18 per share, for a total transaction of $3,145,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,493,047 shares in the company, valued at approximately $782,625,376.46. This trade represents a 0.40% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

MSCI Stock Down 0.9%

NYSE:MSCI opened at $540.41 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $572.65 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $565.18. The stock has a market cap of $39.70 billion, a PE ratio of 34.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.29. MSCI Inc has a 52 week low of $486.73 and a 52 week high of $626.28.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The technology company reported $4.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.62 by $0.04. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 82.59% and a net margin of 38.36%.The firm had revenue of $822.53 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $819.51 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $4.18 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 13th will be given a dividend of $2.05 per share. This is a positive change from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.80. This represents a $8.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 13th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 52.26%.

MSCI declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, October 28th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the technology company to purchase up to 7.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Trading of MSCI

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSCI. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of MSCI by 7.6% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 2,003 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,133,000 after buying an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP boosted its holdings in MSCI by 39.0% during the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 6,585 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,724,000 after acquiring an additional 1,846 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its position in MSCI by 20.9% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,052 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $607,000 after acquiring an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. grew its position in MSCI by 8.5% in the 2nd quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 268 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $155,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ritholtz Wealth Management increased its stake in MSCI by 6.8% in the second quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 867 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $500,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. 89.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSCI has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group set a $638.00 target price on MSCI in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Bank of America assumed coverage on MSCI in a report on Tuesday. They set a “buy” rating and a $700.00 price target for the company. Evercore upped their price objective on MSCI from $655.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of MSCI in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $655.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $671.78.

About MSCI

MSCI Inc is a global provider of investment decision support tools and services for the financial industry. The company is best known for its family of market indexes, which are widely used as benchmarks by asset managers and as the basis for exchange-traded funds and other passive products. In addition to index construction and licensing, MSCI offers portfolio analytics, risk models, factor and performance attribution tools, and a suite of data and technology solutions designed to support portfolio management and trading.

Beyond traditional indexing and risk analytics, MSCI has expanded into environmental, social and governance (ESG) research and ratings, offering data, scores and screening tools that help investors integrate sustainability considerations into investment processes.