MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) Announces Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.08 EPS

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday. The technology company reported $3.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.44 by $0.08, Briefing.com reports. The business had revenue of $680.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $685.47 million. MSCI had a net margin of 44.55% and a negative return on equity of 121.86%. MSCI’s revenue was up 14.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.14 EPS.

MSCI Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MSCI traded up $7.96 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $472.45. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 247,854 shares, compared to its average volume of 537,090. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $543.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $538.04. MSCI has a 52 week low of $439.95 and a 52 week high of $617.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.43 billion, a PE ratio of 31.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.06.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be given a $1.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.35%. MSCI’s payout ratio is 43.69%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of MSCI from $615.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday. Bank of America reduced their price objective on MSCI from $530.00 to $425.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $638.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Raymond James restated a “market perform” rating on shares of MSCI in a research report on Friday, January 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $562.87.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Cd Baer Pettit acquired 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $459.41 per share, with a total value of $3,445,575.00. Following the acquisition, the chief operating officer now directly owns 291,038 shares in the company, valued at approximately $133,705,767.58. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 13,000 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $465.92 per share, with a total value of $6,056,960.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 327,479 shares in the company, valued at approximately $152,579,015.68. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Cd Baer Pettit acquired 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 25th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $459.41 per share, for a total transaction of $3,445,575.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief operating officer now directly owns 291,038 shares in the company, valued at $133,705,767.58. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 3.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.