MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $584.79.

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MSCI. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $485.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $638.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of MSCI from $615.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Argus increased their price objective on shares of MSCI from $520.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of MSCI from $526.00 to $590.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MSCI. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new position in MSCI in the first quarter worth approximately $26,000. Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new position in MSCI in the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new position in MSCI in the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new position in MSCI in the first quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, American National Bank lifted its stake in MSCI by 1,300.0% in the fourth quarter. American National Bank now owns 70 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MSCI opened at $559.85 on Monday. MSCI has a 1 year low of $439.95 and a 1 year high of $617.39. The company’s 50-day moving average is $535.55 and its 200 day moving average is $522.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.22, a P/E/G ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 1.11.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The technology company reported $3.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.55 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $707.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $696.41 million. MSCI had a net margin of 43.86% and a negative return on equity of 143.09%. MSCI’s quarterly revenue was up 14.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.26 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that MSCI will post 14.79 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th were given a dividend of $1.60 per share. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.14%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. MSCI’s payout ratio is currently 43.69%.

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.