MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Receives $649.23 Consensus Price Target from Brokerages

MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the fourteen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eleven have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $649.23.

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barclays reduced their price objective on MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $675.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of MSCI from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th.

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MSCI opened at $565.72 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.24, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.19. MSCI has a 52 week low of $439.95 and a 52 week high of $642.45. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $579.90 and its 200 day moving average is $588.55.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.96 by $0.22. MSCI had a net margin of 38.83% and a negative return on equity of 156.08%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.68 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that MSCI will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $1.80 per share. This is a positive change from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.27%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.21%.

Insider Transactions at MSCI

In other news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 5,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $574.51 per share, with a total value of $3,044,903.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 1,269,951 shares in the company, valued at $729,599,549.01. This represents a 0.42 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of MSCI

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MSCI. Menard Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. LRI Investments LLC raised its position in MSCI by 120.0% in the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 44 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new stake in shares of MSCI in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of MSCI by 293.8% during the 4th quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 63 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA purchased a new stake in MSCI during the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. 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.