MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI – Get Rating) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest during the month of May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 573,600 shares, a decline of 20.6% from the May 15th total of 722,400 shares. Currently, 0.7% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 497,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.2 days.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MSCI. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of MSCI from $549.00 to $574.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on shares of MSCI from $560.00 to $522.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 26th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of MSCI from $543.00 to $551.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 27th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of MSCI in a research report on Thursday, May 18th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of MSCI from $611.00 to $570.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MSCI has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $567.50.
MSCI Stock Down 0.9 %
MSCI traded down $4.50 during trading on Friday, hitting $483.05. 210,846 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 477,074. The business’s 50 day moving average is $487.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $506.97. MSCI has a fifty-two week low of $383.39 and a fifty-two week high of $572.50. The stock has a market cap of $38.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.69 and a beta of 1.14.
MSCI (NYSE:MSCI – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 25th. The technology company reported $3.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.91 by $0.23. MSCI had a net margin of 38.62% and a negative return on equity of 93.49%. The firm had revenue of $592.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $593.92 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.98 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that MSCI will post 12.92 earnings per share for the current year.
MSCI Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 12th were issued a dividend of $1.38 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 11th. This represents a $5.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.14%. MSCI’s payout ratio is 50.60%.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Resources Investment Advisors LLC. raised its holdings in MSCI by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Resources Investment Advisors LLC. now owns 671 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $312,000 after buying an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Glassman Wealth Services grew its stake in shares of MSCI by 16.7% in the 4th quarter. Glassman Wealth Services now owns 133 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $62,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC grew its stake in shares of MSCI by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 242 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $113,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Keybank National Association OH grew its stake in shares of MSCI by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 1,129 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $525,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Spire Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of MSCI by 8.3% in the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 275 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $128,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.18% of the company’s stock.
MSCI Company Profile
MSCI, Inc engages in the provision of investment decision support tools including indices, portfolio risk and performance analytics and corporate governance products and services. It operates through the following segments: Index, Analytics, ESG and Climate, and All Other-Private Assets. The Index segment focuses on the investment process, including developing indexed financial products.