MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eleven have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $646.58.

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays decreased their price target on MSCI from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $617.00 to $723.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of MSCI from $623.00 to $532.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $675.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Bank of America started coverage on MSCI in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $585.00 target price on the stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other MSCI news, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $524.25, for a total transaction of $2,621,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 294,787 shares in the company, valued at $154,542,084.75. This trade represents a 1.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 5,300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $574.51 per share, for a total transaction of $3,044,903.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,269,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $729,599,549.01. This trade represents a 0.42 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 3.31% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MSCI

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in MSCI by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,897,456 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,136,563,000 after purchasing an additional 35,094 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of MSCI by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,613,005 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $967,820,000 after acquiring an additional 119,471 shares during the period. Fiera Capital Corp grew its stake in MSCI by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 1,148,615 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $689,180,000 after acquiring an additional 49,679 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in MSCI during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $609,937,000. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its stake in MSCI by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 853,452 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $512,079,000 after purchasing an additional 25,325 shares in the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MSCI opened at $551.23 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $561.54 and a 200-day moving average of $586.67. The firm has a market cap of $42.80 billion, a PE ratio of 39.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.30. MSCI has a twelve month low of $439.95 and a twelve month high of $642.45.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.68 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that MSCI will post 16.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $1.80 per share. This is an increase 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 1.31%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.21%.

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.