Brokerages Set MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) Target Price at $654.73

MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the thirteen ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and ten have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $654.7273.

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Raymond James Financial upgraded MSCI from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $650.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, July 25th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on MSCI from $578.00 to $533.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. UBS Group increased their price target on MSCI from $655.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on MSCI from $650.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 21st.

MSCI Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of MSCI opened at $573.6240 on Monday. MSCI has a 52-week low of $486.73 and a 52-week high of $642.45. The company has a market capitalization of $44.38 billion, a PE ratio of 37.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.29. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $563.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $560.45.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The technology company reported $4.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.12 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $772.68 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $763.06 million. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 143.13% and a net margin of 39.46%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.64 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that MSCI will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.80 per share. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.68%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 9,916 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 24th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $544.70 per share, for a total transaction of $5,401,245.20. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 1,279,867 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $697,143,554.90. This represents a 0.78% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In the last three months, insiders bought 12,400 shares of company stock valued at $6,731,599. Company insiders own 3.31% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MSCI

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of MSCI by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,508,242 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $5,483,783,000 after acquiring an additional 131,390 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of MSCI by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,281,311 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,892,463,000 after purchasing an additional 45,547 shares during the last quarter. Bamco Inc. NY boosted its stake in shares of MSCI by 4.8% in the second quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 2,170,333 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,251,718,000 after buying an additional 98,680 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of MSCI by 1.8% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,993,524 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,146,298,000 after acquiring an additional 34,335 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of MSCI by 0.9% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,626,923 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $920,026,000 after acquiring an additional 13,918 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.