MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and nine have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $584.79.

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on MSCI shares. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of MSCI from $575.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $638.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $485.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, May 13th. Argus boosted their price target on MSCI from $520.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of MSCI from $526.00 to $590.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th.

MSCI Price Performance

MSCI stock opened at $580.59 on Monday. MSCI has a 1-year low of $439.95 and a 1-year high of $617.39. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $527.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $521.45. The company has a market capitalization of $45.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.63, a PEG ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 1.10.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The technology company reported $3.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.55 by $0.09. MSCI had a net margin of 43.86% and a negative return on equity of 143.09%. The business had revenue of $707.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $696.41 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.26 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 14.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that MSCI will post 14.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were given a dividend of $1.60 per share. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.10%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.69%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MSCI

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MSCI. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new position in MSCI during the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new position in shares of MSCI during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of MSCI in the 1st quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, American National Bank boosted its holdings in MSCI by 1,300.0% during the fourth quarter. American National Bank now owns 70 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

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.