MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) Rating Reiterated by Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada reissued their outperform rating on shares of MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) in a research note released on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $638.00 price objective on the technology company’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on the stock. 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 report on Monday, May 13th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of MSCI from $615.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a market perform rating on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of MSCI from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of MSCI from an underperform rating to a neutral rating and increased their price target for the stock from $425.00 to $525.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $591.21.

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MSCI opened at $540.55 on Wednesday. MSCI has a 1 year low of $439.95 and a 1 year high of $617.39. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $495.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $524.45. The firm has a market cap of $42.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.10.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The technology company reported $3.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.55 by $0.09. MSCI had a net margin of 43.86% and a negative return on equity of 143.09%. The firm had revenue of $707.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $696.41 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.26 earnings per share. MSCI’s revenue was up 14.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that MSCI will post 14.78 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th will be paid a $1.60 dividend. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.18%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 16th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.69%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Scott A. Crum sold 9,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $471.69, for a total value of $4,245,210.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 12,831 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,052,254.39. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MSCI

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MSCI. Raymond James & Associates grew its holdings in MSCI by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 63,594 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $35,972,000 after purchasing an additional 1,664 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in MSCI by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 8,881 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $5,023,000 after purchasing an additional 406 shares in the last quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in MSCI by 19.2% during the 4th quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,007 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $570,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC grew its holdings in MSCI by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 857 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $485,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MJP Associates Inc. ADV grew its holdings in MSCI by 27.3% during the 4th quarter. MJP Associates Inc. ADV now owns 736 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $416,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. 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.