MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) Announces Earnings Results

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The technology company reported $4.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.96 by $0.22, Zacks reports. MSCI had a net margin of 38.83% and a negative return on equity of 168.58%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.68 EPS.

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MSCI traded up $6.10 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $596.83. The stock had a trading volume of 735,895 shares, compared to its average volume of 420,294. The firm has a market cap of $46.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 1.11. MSCI has a twelve month low of $439.95 and a twelve month high of $642.45. The company's 50 day moving average price is $607.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $582.24.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $1.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.21%. This is an increase from MSCI's previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. MSCI's payout ratio is 45.52%.

Insider Transactions at MSCI

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 2,900 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were bought 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $202,456,251.20. The trade was a 0.89 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $675.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a research note on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of MSCI from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the company from $617.00 to $723.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of MSCI from $695.00 to $680.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of MSCI from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $680.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average 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.