MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) Receives $652.45 Average Price Target from Analysts

MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $652.4545.

MSCI has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their price objective on MSCI from $655.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of MSCI from $625.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 10th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of MSCI from $578.00 to $533.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised MSCI from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $650.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, July 25th.

Insider Activity at MSCI

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 84 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $548.69 per share, for a total transaction of $46,089.96. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,279,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $702,296,314.19. This represents a 0.01% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders bought a total of 12,400 shares of company stock valued at $6,731,599 in the last quarter. 3.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MSCI

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Menard Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of MSCI in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Olde Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI in the first quarter valued at $27,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in MSCI by 136.4% in the first quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 52 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Steph & Co. purchased a new position in MSCI in the second quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Strategic Wealth Investment Group LLC purchased a new stake in MSCI during the 2nd quarter worth about $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Price Performance

NYSE MSCI opened at $567.20 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.88 billion, a PE ratio of 37.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 1.34. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $563.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $559.11. MSCI has a 1-year low of $486.73 and a 1-year high of $642.45.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The technology company reported $4.17 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.12 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $772.68 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $763.06 million. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 143.13% and a net margin of 39.46%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.64 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that MSCI will post 16.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th were paid a dividend of $1.80 per share. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. MSCI’s payout ratio is presently 47.68%.

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.