MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) Price Target Lowered to $615.00 at Morgan Stanley

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) had its price objective reduced by Morgan Stanley from $671.00 to $615.00 in a report released on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the technology company’s stock.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on MSCI. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of MSCI from $615.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of MSCI from $544.00 to $617.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. StockNews.com lowered shares of MSCI from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an outperform rating and set a $638.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of MSCI in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. They issued a peer perform rating on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $562.87.

MSCI Stock Up 4.2 %

NYSE MSCI opened at $464.81 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $545.76 and its 200-day moving average is $538.56. MSCI has a 12-month low of $439.95 and a 12-month high of $617.39. The firm has a market cap of $36.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.06.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $3.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.44 by $0.08. MSCI had a net margin of 44.55% and a negative return on equity of 111.33%. The company had revenue of $680.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $685.47 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.14 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that MSCI will post 14.81 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th will be issued a dividend of $1.60 per share. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.38%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.69%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MSCI

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Simplicity Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in MSCI during the 1st quarter valued at $1,353,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. boosted its position in MSCI by 426.0% during the 1st quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 1,094 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $613,000 after buying an additional 886 shares during the period. Summit Trail Advisors LLC boosted its position in MSCI by 29.0% during the 1st quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 512 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $287,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the period. Donaldson Capital Management LLC boosted its position in MSCI by 4.9% during the 1st quarter. Donaldson Capital Management LLC now owns 8,659 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,853,000 after buying an additional 405 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lifted its position in shares of MSCI by 25.9% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 1,394 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $781,000 after purchasing an additional 287 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.