MSCI Inc. (MSCI) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $1.80 on February 28th

MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, January 28th,Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of 1.80 per share by the technology company on Friday, February 28th. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60.

MSCI has increased its dividend by an average of 20.7% annually over the last three years. MSCI has a dividend payout ratio of 33.3% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect MSCI to earn $16.93 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $6.40 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 37.8%.

MSCI Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE MSCI traded down $2.69 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $590.36. 499,827 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 468,670. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.27 billion, a PE ratio of 38.76, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a 50 day moving average of $606.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $581.51. MSCI has a 12 month low of $439.95 and a 12 month high of $642.45.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.96 by $0.22. MSCI had a net margin of 43.06% and a negative return on equity of 162.06%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.68 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that MSCI will post 14.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at MSCI

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 2,900 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $612.80 per share, for a total transaction of $1,777,120.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 330,379 shares in the company, valued at approximately $202,456,251.20. This trade represents a 0.89 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 3.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSCI has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $675.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a research note on Thursday. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $680.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $617.00 to $723.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on MSCI from $570.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $649.23.

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.