MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) Receives Outperform Rating from Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada reiterated their outperform rating on shares of MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) in a report released on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $638.00 target price on the technology company’s stock.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on MSCI. Argus boosted their price target on MSCI from $520.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of MSCI from $526.00 to $590.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target 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. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of MSCI from $695.00 to $680.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Evercore ISI started coverage on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $690.00 price target for the company. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $624.23.

MSCI Stock Performance

NYSE MSCI opened at $569.35 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $44.78 billion, a PE ratio of 38.13, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.11. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $579.95 and a 200-day moving average of $529.34. MSCI has a 52-week low of $439.95 and a 52-week high of $631.70.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The technology company reported $3.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.77 by $0.09. MSCI had a net margin of 43.86% and a negative return on equity of 143.09%. The firm had revenue of $724.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $716.15 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.45 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that MSCI will post 14.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a $1.60 dividend. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.87%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MSCI. Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. HWG Holdings LP bought a new position in MSCI in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in MSCI in the first quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of MSCI during the second quarter worth $40,000. Finally, American National Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of MSCI during the third quarter worth $58,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.