MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) Sets New 12-Month High Following Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The company traded as high as $627.50 and last traded at $627.50, with a volume of 1416 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $595.27.

The technology company reported $3.86 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.77 by $0.09. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 143.09% and a net margin of 43.86%. The company had revenue of $724.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $716.15 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.45 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a $1.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.12%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.87%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on MSCI shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on MSCI from $570.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. UBS Group dropped their target price on MSCI from $695.00 to $680.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on MSCI from $526.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $638.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Evercore ISI started coverage on MSCI in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $690.00 target price for the company. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, MSCI has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $624.23.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MSCI

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in shares of MSCI by 9.7% in the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 239,933 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $134,475,000 after buying an additional 21,310 shares during the period. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System increased its stake in shares of MSCI by 9.6% in the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 88,097 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $49,307,000 after buying an additional 7,718 shares during the period. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI in the 2nd quarter valued at $91,748,000. Grove Bank & Trust increased its stake in shares of MSCI by 52.4% in the 3rd quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 3,779 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,203,000 after buying an additional 1,299 shares during the period. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. increased its stake in shares of MSCI by 313.9% in the 1st quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 30,456 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $17,069,000 after buying an additional 23,097 shares during the period. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MSCI Trading Down 1.7 %

The company has a 50 day moving average price of $579.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $529.34. The company has a market capitalization of $44.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.13, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.11.

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.