MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) Price Target Increased to $600.00 by Analysts at Wells Fargo & Company

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) had its price objective increased by Wells Fargo & Company from $570.00 to $600.00 in a report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the technology company’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on MSCI. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on MSCI from $526.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an outperform rating and issued a $638.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an outperform rating and a $690.00 price target on the stock. Redburn Atlantic raised MSCI from a neutral rating to a buy rating and set a $680.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on MSCI from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $614.14.

MSCI Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE MSCI opened at $605.78 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $566.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $524.77. The company has a market cap of $47.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.57, a P/E/G ratio of 3.21 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The technology company reported $3.64 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.55 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $707.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $696.41 million. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 143.09% and a net margin of 43.86%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.26 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that MSCI will post 14.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th were issued a $1.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.06%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.87%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MSCI

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Creative Planning increased its holdings in MSCI by 15.6% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 11,090 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $6,465,000 after purchasing an additional 1,499 shares during the last quarter. CX Institutional bought a new stake in MSCI in the third quarter valued at about $224,000. Grove Bank & Trust increased its holdings in shares of MSCI by 52.4% in the third quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 3,779 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,203,000 after acquiring an additional 1,299 shares in the last quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of MSCI in the third quarter worth about $432,000. Finally, Procyon Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of MSCI by 16.6% in the third quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 1,956 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,140,000 after acquiring an additional 279 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.