MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $631.83.

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $638.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $680.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Argus raised their target price on shares of MSCI from $520.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of MSCI from $526.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on MSCI from $695.00 to $680.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th.

MSCI Stock Down 2.5 %

NYSE:MSCI opened at $582.00 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $45.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.21, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.11. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $585.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $540.42. MSCI has a fifty-two week low of $439.95 and a fifty-two week high of $631.70.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The technology company reported $3.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.77 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $724.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $716.15 million. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 162.06% and a net margin of 43.06%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.45 EPS. Research analysts forecast that MSCI will post 14.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a $1.60 dividend. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.10%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. MSCI’s payout ratio is currently 42.02%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in MSCI by 74.9% in the second 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 last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. increased its position in MSCI by 129.4% in the second quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 730,986 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $352,153,000 after buying an additional 412,389 shares during the period. Edgewood Management LLC lifted its stake in MSCI by 16.9% in the third quarter. Edgewood Management LLC now owns 2,195,639 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,279,904,000 after buying an additional 318,214 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in shares of MSCI by 14.3% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,587,723 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $925,531,000 after acquiring an additional 198,666 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new stake in MSCI in the 2nd quarter valued at about $91,748,000. 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.