MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) Reaches New 52-Week High on 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. The stock had previously closed at $618.50.

Specifically, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 2,900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $612.80 per share, for a total transaction of $1,777,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 330,379 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $202,456,251.20. This represents a 0.89 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on MSCI shares. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $638.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on MSCI from $570.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $690.00 price target for the company. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of MSCI from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of MSCI from $640.00 to $662.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven equities 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.com, MSCI has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $631.83.

MSCI Price Performance

The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $596.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $551.26. The firm has a market cap of $49.28 billion, a PE ratio of 41.30, a P/E/G ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.10.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The technology company reported $3.86 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.77 by $0.09. MSCI had a net margin of 43.06% and a negative return on equity of 162.06%. The company had revenue of $724.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $716.15 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.45 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc. will post 14.98 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were issued a $1.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.02%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.02%.

Institutional Trading of MSCI

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MSCI. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in MSCI by 74.9% during the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,456,194 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $701,522,000 after buying an additional 623,712 shares during the period. Edgewood Management LLC increased its holdings in MSCI by 16.9% during the 3rd quarter. Edgewood Management LLC now owns 2,195,639 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,279,904,000 after purchasing an additional 318,214 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of MSCI by 14.3% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,587,723 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $925,531,000 after buying an additional 198,666 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of MSCI by 358.3% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 133,636 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $77,900,000 after purchasing an additional 104,474 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Champlain Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in MSCI during the third quarter valued at approximately $56,101,000. 89.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.