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

MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) saw a large decline in short interest during the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 684,300 shares, a decline of 34.8% from the August 31st total of 1,050,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 489,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.4 days. Approximately 0.9% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MSCI. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of MSCI from $575.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $638.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of MSCI from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Argus lifted their target price on shares of MSCI from $520.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of MSCI from $615.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $591.00.

MSCI Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE MSCI traded up $5.02 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $567.39. The stock had a trading volume of 404,215 shares, compared to its average volume of 556,531. The business's 50 day moving average is $552.38 and its 200-day moving average is $521.91. The company has a market cap of $44.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.76, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.11. MSCI has a 52 week low of $439.95 and a 52 week high of $617.39.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The technology company reported $3.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.55 by $0.09. MSCI had a net margin of 43.86% and a negative return on equity of 143.09%. The firm had revenue of $707.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $696.41 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.26 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 14.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that MSCI will post 14.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were issued a dividend of $1.60 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.13%. MSCI's dividend payout ratio is currently 43.69%.

Institutional Trading of MSCI

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of MSCI during the first quarter worth $26,000. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new position in MSCI during the second quarter valued at $26,000. HWG Holdings LP bought a new position in MSCI during the second quarter valued at $27,000. Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new position in MSCI during the first quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new position in MSCI during the second quarter valued at $40,000. 89.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.