MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) Given Average Recommendation of “Buy” by Brokerages

MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) has received a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the twelve research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $709.50.

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MSCI. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of MSCI in a report on Friday, July 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $760.00 price objective for the company. Raymond James Financial raised their price target on shares of MSCI from $730.00 to $760.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Weiss Ratings downgraded MSCI from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Barclays boosted their price objective on MSCI from $700.00 to $735.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $700.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MSCI

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MSCI. Ancora Advisors LLC purchased a new position in MSCI during the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Elyxium Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Compound Global Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of MSCI during the second quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, SHP Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of MSCI during the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. 89.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MSCI Trading Up 0.8%

NYSE MSCI opened at $568.57 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $579.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $573.15. MSCI has a 12-month low of $501.08 and a 12-month high of $644.77. The company has a market cap of $41.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.10, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.23.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The technology company reported $4.94 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.99 by ($0.05). MSCI had a net margin of 40.74% and a negative return on equity of 55.19%. The business had revenue of $867.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $870.71 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.17 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that MSCI will post 19.61 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th will be given a dividend of $2.05 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $8.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. MSCI’s payout ratio is presently 44.86%.

MSCI Company Profile

MSCI Inc is a global provider of investment decision support tools and services for the financial industry. The company is best known for its family of market indexes, which are widely used as benchmarks by asset managers and as the basis for exchange-traded funds and other passive products. In addition to index construction and licensing, MSCI offers portfolio analytics, risk models, factor and performance attribution tools, and a suite of data and technology solutions designed to support portfolio management and trading.

Beyond traditional indexing and risk analytics, MSCI has expanded into environmental, social and governance (ESG) research and ratings, offering data, scores and screening tools that help investors integrate sustainability considerations into investment processes.