MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) Price Target Raised to $680.00

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) had its target price raised by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $655.00 to $680.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the technology company’s stock.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. UBS Group raised their target price on MSCI from $700.00 to $710.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on MSCI from $588.00 to $611.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on MSCI from $533.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Barclays raised their price objective on MSCI from $650.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised MSCI from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $650.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, July 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $655.90.

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of MSCI stock opened at $588.17 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $561.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $560.40. The company has a market cap of $45.50 billion, a PE ratio of 37.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 1.33. MSCI has a fifty-two week low of $486.73 and a fifty-two week high of $642.45.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The technology company reported $4.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.37 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $793.43 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $794.87 million. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 110.94% and a net margin of 40.03%.The company’s revenue was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.86 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that MSCI will post 16.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 28th. Investors of record on Friday, November 14th will be given a dividend of $1.80 per share. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 14th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.63%.

MSCI declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, October 28th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the technology company to repurchase up to 7.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of MSCI. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in MSCI by 8.4% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 894 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $506,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its position in MSCI by 336.4% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 96 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its position in MSCI by 19.2% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 8,073 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $4,509,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300 shares during the last quarter. Alta Advisers Ltd bought a new position in MSCI during the 1st quarter worth $203,000. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its position in MSCI by 59.9% during the 1st quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 47,204 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $26,694,000 after purchasing an additional 17,677 shares during the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About MSCI

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.