MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the fifteen analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $631.83.

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on MSCI shares. Redburn Atlantic upgraded MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $680.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Argus lifted their price target on shares of MSCI from $520.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Evercore ISI started coverage on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $690.00 price target on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of MSCI from $526.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $638.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, October 30th.

MSCI Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE MSCI opened at $593.60 on Friday. MSCI has a twelve month low of $439.95 and a twelve month high of $631.70. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $582.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $536.53. The company has a market capitalization of $46.52 billion, a PE ratio of 38.98, a PEG ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 1.11.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The technology company reported $3.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.77 by $0.09. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 162.06% and a net margin of 43.06%. The firm had revenue of $724.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $716.15 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.45 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that MSCI will post 14.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.08%. MSCI’s payout ratio is 42.02%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MSCI

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of MSCI by 0.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,719,381 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $4,886,777,000 after purchasing an additional 36,043 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of MSCI by 0.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,192,364 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,860,925,000 after purchasing an additional 11,351 shares during the period. Edgewood Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of MSCI by 16.9% in the third quarter. Edgewood Management LLC now owns 2,195,639 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,279,904,000 after purchasing an additional 318,214 shares during the period. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in shares of MSCI by 0.5% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,734,519 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $972,111,000 after purchasing an additional 9,304 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of MSCI by 14.3% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,587,723 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $925,531,000 after purchasing an additional 198,666 shares during the period. 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.