MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $631.83.

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on MSCI from $640.00 to $662.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $680.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Argus increased 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. Evercore ISI started coverage on MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $690.00 price target for the company. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on MSCI from $695.00 to $680.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th.

MSCI Price Performance

NYSE MSCI opened at $593.60 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $582.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $536.53. MSCI has a fifty-two week low of $439.95 and a fifty-two week high of $631.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.52 billion, a PE ratio of 38.98, a PEG ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 1.11.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last released its earnings results 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. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 162.06% and a net margin of 43.06%. The firm had revenue of $724.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $716.15 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.45 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that MSCI will post 14.98 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.08%. MSCI’s payout ratio is currently 42.02%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MSCI

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new position in MSCI during the 2nd quarter valued at about $91,748,000. Grove Bank & Trust boosted its stake in MSCI by 52.4% during the 3rd quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 3,779 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,203,000 after purchasing an additional 1,299 shares during the last quarter. LBP AM SA acquired a new position in MSCI during the 1st quarter valued at about $778,000. Cetera Advisors LLC boosted its stake in MSCI by 207.9% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 2,956 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,657,000 after purchasing an additional 1,996 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. boosted its stake in MSCI by 455.8% during the 1st quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 5,614 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,146,000 after purchasing an additional 4,604 shares during the last quarter. 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.