UBS Group Cuts MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) Price Target to $575.00

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) had its price objective trimmed by UBS Group from $700.00 to $575.00 in a report published on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the technology company’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of MSCI in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. They set a peer perform rating for the company. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $600.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. StockNews.com lowered shares of MSCI from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an outperform rating and set a $638.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of MSCI from $530.00 to $425.00 and set an underperform rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $562.87.

MSCI Price Performance

MSCI opened at $477.78 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $37.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.61, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.06. MSCI has a 1-year low of $439.95 and a 1-year high of $617.39. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $541.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $537.78.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $3.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.44 by $0.08. MSCI had a net margin of 44.55% and a negative return on equity of 121.86%. The business had revenue of $680.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $685.47 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.14 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 14.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that MSCI will post 14.59 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid a $1.60 dividend. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.34%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.69%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 13,000 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 25th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $465.92 per share, with a total value of $6,056,960.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 327,479 shares in the company, valued at approximately $152,579,015.68. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 13,000 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were bought at an average price of $465.92 per share, with a total value of $6,056,960.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 327,479 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $152,579,015.68. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Cd Baer Pettit purchased 7,500 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 25th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $459.41 per share, for a total transaction of $3,445,575.00. Following the purchase, the chief operating officer now directly owns 291,038 shares in the company, valued at $133,705,767.58. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors increased its stake in MSCI by 7.6% in the 1st quarter. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors now owns 797 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $447,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the period. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in MSCI by 35.7% during the 1st quarter. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 612 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $343,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund grew its holdings in MSCI by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 14,210 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $7,964,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC bought a new position in MSCI during the 1st quarter worth about $1,353,000. Finally, E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in MSCI by 426.0% during the 1st quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 1,094 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $613,000 after acquiring an additional 886 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.