MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) Sees Strong Trading Volume

MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) saw strong trading volume on Thursday . 649,913 shares were traded during 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 Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Edward Jones assumed coverage on MSCI in a research report on Friday, December 22nd. They set a “buy” rating for the company. StockNews.com lowered MSCI from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $638.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a report on Friday, April 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on MSCI from $544.00 to $617.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Redburn Atlantic lowered MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $620.00 to $470.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $581.57.

MSCI Stock Up 0.9 %

The business has a 50-day moving average price of $552.00 and a 200-day moving average price of $538.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.06.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The technology company reported $3.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 negative return on equity of 111.17% and a net margin of 45.42%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 19.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.84 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that MSCI Inc. will post 14.84 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MSCI

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in MSCI. Optiver Holding B.V. acquired a new position in shares of MSCI in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of MSCI in the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. ORG Partners LLC increased its position in shares of MSCI by 5,600.0% in the 3rd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 57 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the period. Headinvest LLC acquired a new position in shares of MSCI in the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Atlas Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of MSCI in the 1st quarter valued at $35,000. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About MSCI

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.