MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) CFO Andrew Wiechmann Sells 450 Shares of Stock

by · The Cerbat Gem

MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI – Get Free Report) CFO Andrew Wiechmann sold 450 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $550.00, for a total value of $247,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 21,639 shares in the company, valued at $11,901,450. This represents a 2.04% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

MSCI Price Performance

MSCI stock traded up $0.78 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $550.39. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 627,138 shares, compared to its average volume of 623,675. MSCI Inc has a 52-week low of $486.73 and a 52-week high of $636.22. The company has a market cap of $41.36 billion, a PE ratio of 34.88 and a beta of 1.32. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $558.37 and its 200 day moving average is $562.05.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The technology company reported $4.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.37 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $793.43 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $794.87 million. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 110.94% and a net margin of 40.03%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.86 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 14th were given a $1.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 14th. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.63%.

MSCI announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, October 28th that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the technology company to buy up to 7.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSCI has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of MSCI in a report on Monday. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded MSCI to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Evercore ISI upped their target price on MSCI from $588.00 to $611.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on MSCI from $533.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on MSCI from $650.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $651.56.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on MSCI

Institutional Trading of MSCI

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in MSCI by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,674,093 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $5,489,177,000 after buying an additional 165,851 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in MSCI by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,320,761 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,884,233,000 after acquiring an additional 39,450 shares during the last quarter. Bamco Inc. NY raised its stake in MSCI by 10.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 2,394,117 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,358,446,000 after purchasing an additional 223,784 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in MSCI by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,993,524 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,146,298,000 after purchasing an additional 34,335 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in MSCI by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,777,749 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,008,745,000 after purchasing an additional 109,287 shares during the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About MSCI

(Get Free Report)

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.

Featured Stories