MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) was the target of a large decline in short interest in the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 728,700 shares, a decline of 16.0% from the November 15th total of 867,100 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 460,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.6 days. Currently, 1.0% of the company's shares are sold short.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays boosted their target price on MSCI from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on MSCI from $570.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $638.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI began coverage on MSCI in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $690.00 price target for the company. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, MSCI currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $634.58.

MSCI Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of MSCI traded down $10.89 during trading on Friday, reaching $625.10. The company's stock had a trading volume of 380,860 shares, compared to its average volume of 535,320. The company has a fifty day moving average of $599.91 and a two-hundred day moving average of $555.11. MSCI has a twelve month low of $439.95 and a twelve month high of $642.45. The company has a market cap of $48.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.04, a P/E/G ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 1.10.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The technology company reported $3.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.77 by $0.09. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 162.06% and a net margin of 43.06%. The company had revenue of $724.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $716.15 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.45 EPS. MSCI's quarterly revenue was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that MSCI will post 14.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were given a dividend of $1.60 per share. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.02%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. MSCI's dividend payout ratio is currently 42.02%.

Insider Transactions at MSCI

In other news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 2,900 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $612.80 per share, for a total transaction of $1,777,120.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 330,379 shares of the company's stock, valued at $202,456,251.20. This trade represents a 0.89 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MSCI

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of MSCI by 30.0% during the 3rd quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 564 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $329,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust increased its position in MSCI by 52.4% in the third quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 3,779 shares of the technology company's stock worth $2,203,000 after buying an additional 1,299 shares during the period. Xponance Inc. increased its position in MSCI by 29.6% in the second quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 21,384 shares of the technology company's stock worth $10,302,000 after buying an additional 4,890 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its position in MSCI by 339.6% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 26,834 shares of the technology company's stock worth $15,642,000 after buying an additional 20,730 shares during the period. Finally, Scientech Research LLC increased its position in MSCI by 188.3% in the second quarter. Scientech Research LLC now owns 2,249 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,083,000 after buying an additional 1,469 shares during the period. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.