MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) Hits New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday. The company traded as high as $660.60 and last traded at $661.0490, with a volume of 30,101 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $639.78.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on MSCI shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on MSCI from $662.00 to $671.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on MSCI from $729.00 to $684.00 in a report on Friday, October 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on MSCI from $685.00 to $710.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 21st. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $680.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane reduced their price target on MSCI from $570.00 to $550.00 in a research report on Monday, October 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, MSCI currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $683.69.

MSCI Stock Down 2.4%

The firm has a market capitalization of $47.05 billion, a PE ratio of 34.83, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 1.20. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $574.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $574.69.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 20th. The technology company reported $5.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.03 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $892.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $887.83 million. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 50.69% and a net margin of 40.31%. The business’s revenue was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.47 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that MSCI Inc will post 19.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 13th will be given a $2.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 13th. This represents a $8.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.41%.

Insider Activity

In other news, General Counsel Robert Gutowski sold 2,381 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $623.66, for a total transaction of $1,484,934.46. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel owned 14,104 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,796,100.64. The trade was a 14.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Andrew Wiechmann sold 450 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $570.00, for a total transaction of $256,500.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 21,644 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,337,080. This represents a 2.04% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 3.76% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MSCI

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MSCI. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of MSCI during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $3,062,626,000. Bamco Inc. NY purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,798,710,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI in the second quarter valued at approximately $480,613,000. Generation Investment Management LLP acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI in the second quarter valued at approximately $301,493,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI in the second quarter valued at approximately $257,687,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

About MSCI

MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) is a global provider of investment decision-support tools and services for institutional investors, asset managers, banks and other financial institutions. The company is best known for developing equity, fixed-income and multi-asset indexes used to benchmark portfolios and support the creation of investment products such as exchange-traded funds.

In addition to its indexes, MSCI provides portfolio analytics, risk-management and performance-attribution tools, as well as research and data covering environmental, social and governance factors, climate risk and sustainable investing.