MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Short Interest Update

MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of August. As of August 15th, there was short interest totalling 905,200 shares, a growth of 52.2% from the July 31st total of 594,800 shares. Currently, 1.2% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 545,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.7 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MSCI

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in MSCI. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of MSCI during the fourth quarter valued at about $496,541,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of MSCI by 74.9% in the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,456,194 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $701,522,000 after acquiring an additional 623,712 shares during the period. PineStone Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 129.4% in the second quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 730,986 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $352,153,000 after acquiring an additional 412,389 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado increased its stake in shares of MSCI by 3,600.0% during the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 253,636 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $143,469,000 after acquiring an additional 246,781 shares during the period. Finally, Findlay Park Partners LLP bought a new stake in MSCI during the first quarter worth approximately $114,836,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Price Performance

MSCI stock opened at $580.15 on Thursday. MSCI has a 12 month low of $439.95 and a 12 month high of $617.39. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $523.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $521.83. The company has a market cap of $45.96 billion, a PE ratio of 39.60, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.10.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The technology company reported $3.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.55 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $707.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $696.41 million. MSCI had a net margin of 43.86% and a negative return on equity of 143.09%. MSCI’s revenue was up 14.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.26 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that MSCI will post 14.78 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 30th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th will be given a $1.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 16th. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.10%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.69%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $638.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of MSCI from $526.00 to $590.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. 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 note on Wednesday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded MSCI to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, Argus boosted their target price on shares of MSCI from $520.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $584.79.

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.