MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) Sees Strong Trading Volume

MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) saw an uptick in trading volume on Thursday . 649,913 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 45% from the previous session’s volume of 449,257 shares.The stock last traded at $506.29 and had previously closed at $511.83.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on MSCI. Barclays raised their price target on shares of MSCI from $600.00 to $700.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $620.00 to $470.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Raymond James reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of MSCI in a research report on Friday, January 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of MSCI from $615.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $638.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $581.57.

MSCI Stock Up 0.9 %

The firm has a market cap of $40.41 billion, a PE ratio of 35.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.06. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $552.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $538.86.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The technology company reported $3.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.29 by $0.39. The business had revenue of $690.11 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $662.64 million. MSCI had a net margin of 45.42% and a negative return on equity of 111.17%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 19.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.84 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that MSCI Inc. will post 14.84 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 16th were issued a $1.60 dividend. This is an increase from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.38. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.25%. MSCI’s payout ratio is presently 44.44%.

Institutional Trading of MSCI

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MSCI. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in MSCI during the first quarter worth about $26,000. Optiver Holding B.V. purchased a new stake in MSCI during the third quarter worth about $26,000. ORG Partners LLC boosted its holdings in MSCI by 5,600.0% during the third quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 57 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Headinvest LLC purchased a new stake in MSCI during the third quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Atlas Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in MSCI during the first quarter worth about $35,000. 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.