Oppenheimer Reiterates Market Perform Rating for MSCI (NYSE:MSCI)

Oppenheimer restated their market perform rating on shares of MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) in a research report report published on Wednesday, Marketbeat reports.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James reiterated a market perform rating on shares of MSCI in a research note on Friday, January 5th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of MSCI from $600.00 to $700.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of MSCI from a neutral rating to a sell rating and cut their target price for the company from $620.00 to $470.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of MSCI in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. They issued a peer perform rating for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of MSCI from $615.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $562.87.

MSCI Stock Up 4.2 %

MSCI stock opened at $464.81 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $36.82 billion, a PE ratio of 31.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.06. MSCI has a twelve month low of $439.95 and a twelve month high of $617.39. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $545.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $538.56.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $3.52 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.44 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $680.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $685.47 million. MSCI had a net margin of 44.55% and a negative return on equity of 111.33%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.14 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that MSCI will post 14.81 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be issued a $1.60 dividend. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.38%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.69%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MSCI

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MSCI. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in MSCI in the 3rd quarter worth $434,000. Bleakley Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in MSCI by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 2,340 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,324,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in MSCI by 19.2% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 218,623 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $124,786,000 after purchasing an additional 35,277 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in MSCI by 13,659.5% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 10,182 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $5,759,000 after purchasing an additional 10,108 shares during the period. Finally, Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd boosted its stake in MSCI by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd now owns 430,676 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $220,971,000 after purchasing an additional 12,495 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

About MSCI

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.