MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Receives $649.85 Consensus PT from Brokerages

Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) have earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $649.23.

Several equities research analysts recently commented on MSCI shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $617.00 to $723.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Barclays dropped their price target on MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Redburn Atlantic raised MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $680.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on MSCI from $695.00 to $680.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 2,900 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $612.80 per share, with a total value of $1,777,120.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 330,379 shares in the company, valued at approximately $202,456,251.20. This trade represents a 0.89 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MSCI

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MSCI. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 30.0% in the third quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 564 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $329,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the period. Grove Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 52.4% in the third quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 3,779 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,203,000 after acquiring an additional 1,299 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 30.9% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 174,982 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $104,991,000 after acquiring an additional 41,346 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 4.5% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 536,211 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $312,574,000 after acquiring an additional 23,050 shares during the period. Finally, Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 339.6% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 26,834 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $15,642,000 after acquiring an additional 20,730 shares during the period. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

MSCI Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE MSCI opened at $581.98 on Thursday. MSCI has a 12 month low of $439.95 and a 12 month high of $642.45. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $606.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $584.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.61 billion, a PE ratio of 41.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 1.11.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced 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 negative return on equity of 156.08% and a net margin of 38.83%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.68 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that MSCI will post 16.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $1.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.24%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.52%.

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.