MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) Issues Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.22 EPS

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

MSCI Trading Down 0.6 %

MSCI stock traded down $3.45 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $587.28. 98,066 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 448,505. MSCI has a one year low of $439.95 and a one year high of $642.45. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $606.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $581.58. The company has a market cap of $46.03 billion, a PE ratio of 41.87, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 1.11.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $1.80 dividend. This is an increase from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.23%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.52%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wolfe Research raised MSCI from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $675.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research note on Thursday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MSCI presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $649.23.

Insider Transactions at MSCI

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 2,900 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $612.80 per share, for a total transaction of $1,777,120.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 330,379 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

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.