MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

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

Several research firms have commented on MSCI. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of MSCI from $695.00 to $680.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of MSCI from $640.00 to $662.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of MSCI from $570.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $680.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of MSCI from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th.

MSCI Stock Up 1.7 %

MSCI opened at $628.81 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $49.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.10. MSCI has a fifty-two week low of $439.95 and a fifty-two week high of $635.74. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $596.41 and its 200 day moving average price is $551.26.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $724.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $716.15 million. MSCI had a net margin of 43.06% and a negative return on equity of 162.06%. MSCI’s quarterly revenue was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.45 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that MSCI will post 14.98 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were paid a dividend of $1.60 per share. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.02%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.02%.

Insider Activity at MSCI

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 2,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $612.80 per share, with a total value of $1,777,120.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 330,379 shares in the company, valued at approximately $202,456,251.20. This trade represents a 0.89 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MSCI

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MSCI. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of MSCI by 7.6% in the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,016 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $971,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co lifted its position in shares of MSCI by 16.1% in the 2nd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 2,075 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,000,000 after acquiring an additional 287 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its position in shares of MSCI by 9.3% in the 2nd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 437 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $211,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $255,000. Finally, SteelPeak Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of MSCI by 65.1% in the 2nd quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 2,069 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $997,000 after acquiring an additional 816 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.