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

MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $584.79.

MSCI has been the topic of several recent research reports. Argus boosted their price objective 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. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of MSCI from $575.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of MSCI from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $485.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of MSCI to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MSCI

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in MSCI by 9.7% during the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 239,933 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $134,475,000 after purchasing an additional 21,310 shares during the last quarter. Evoke Wealth LLC lifted its stake in MSCI by 18.4% during the fourth quarter. Evoke Wealth LLC now owns 13,720 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $7,761,000 after purchasing an additional 2,135 shares during the last quarter. Grayhawk Investment Strategies Inc. bought a new position in MSCI during the fourth quarter worth $959,000. Nomura Holdings Inc. bought a new position in MSCI during the fourth quarter worth $904,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in MSCI by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 819,422 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $463,506,000 after purchasing an additional 57,342 shares during the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MSCI Price Performance

Shares of MSCI stock opened at $559.85 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $535.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $522.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.22, a PEG ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 1.11. MSCI has a 12 month low of $439.95 and a 12 month high of $617.39.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The technology company reported $3.64 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.55 by $0.09. The business 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%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.26 EPS. Analysts anticipate that MSCI will post 14.79 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th were paid a dividend of $1.60 per share. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.14%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.69%.

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.