MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the fifteen brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and nine have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $591.00.

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $638.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of MSCI to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of MSCI from $575.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of MSCI from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Argus upped their target price on shares of MSCI from $520.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th.

MSCI Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of MSCI stock opened at $567.39 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.73, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.11. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $552.38 and its 200 day moving average is $521.91. MSCI has a 12 month low of $439.95 and a 12 month high of $617.39.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The technology company reported $3.64 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 revenue was up 14.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.26 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that MSCI will post 14.79 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th were issued a dividend of $1.60 per share. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.13%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.69%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MSCI

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSCI. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in MSCI during the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new stake in MSCI during the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new stake in MSCI during the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in MSCI during the 1st quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new stake in MSCI during the 2nd quarter valued at $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

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.