MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $634.58.

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MSCI. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $638.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of MSCI from $570.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $690.00 target price for the company. Barclays upped their price target on MSCI from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th.

MSCI Stock Performance

NYSE:MSCI opened at $611.63 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $600.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $556.84. MSCI has a one year low of $439.95 and a one year high of $642.45. The firm has a market cap of $47.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.16, a P/E/G ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 1.10.

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

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were paid a $1.60 dividend. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. MSCI’s payout ratio is 42.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 2,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $612.80 per share, for a total transaction of $1,777,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 330,379 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $202,456,251.20. This trade represents a 0.89 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MSCI

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new stake in MSCI during the second quarter worth about $26,000. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new stake in MSCI in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. LRI Investments LLC boosted its position in MSCI by 120.0% in the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 44 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new position in shares of MSCI during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of MSCI in 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.