MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Short Interest Down 13.0% in June

MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,140,000 shares, a decline of 13.0% from the May 31st total of 1,310,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 696,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.6 days. Approximately 1.5% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Insider Buying and Selling at MSCI

In other MSCI news, insider Scott A. Crum sold 9,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $471.69, for a total transaction of $4,245,210.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 12,831 shares in the company, valued at $6,052,254.39. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other MSCI news, COO Cd Baer Pettit purchased 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $459.41 per share, for a total transaction of $3,445,575.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief operating officer now owns 291,038 shares in the company, valued at approximately $133,705,767.58. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Scott A. Crum sold 9,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $471.69, for a total value of $4,245,210.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 12,831 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,052,254.39. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MSCI

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI in the first quarter valued at about $26,000. Headinvest LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI in the third quarter valued at about $30,000. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI in the first quarter valued at about $34,000. American National Bank grew its position in shares of MSCI by 1,300.0% in the fourth quarter. American National Bank now owns 70 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First United Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI in the fourth quarter valued at about $48,000. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on MSCI shares. Barclays cut their price objective on MSCI from $700.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. UBS Group lowered their target price on MSCI from $700.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised MSCI from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $613.00 to $569.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on MSCI from $671.00 to $615.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $570.53.

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MSCI traded up $12.11 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $491.42. The company had a trading volume of 420,446 shares, compared to its average volume of 588,731. MSCI has a twelve month low of $439.95 and a twelve month high of $617.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.93 billion, a PE ratio of 33.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.10. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $484.58 and its 200-day moving average is $530.48.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $3.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.44 by $0.08. MSCI had a net margin of 44.55% and a negative return on equity of 121.86%. The business had revenue of $680.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $685.47 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.14 earnings per share. MSCI’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that MSCI will post 14.66 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th were given a dividend of $1.60 per share. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 16th. MSCI’s payout ratio is 43.69%.

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.