MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) PT Lowered to $615.00 at Morgan Stanley

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) had its target price reduced by Morgan Stanley from $671.00 to $615.00 in a report published on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the technology company’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on MSCI. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of MSCI in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. They set a peer perform rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of MSCI from $615.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of MSCI from a hold rating to a buy rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $613.00 to $569.00 in a report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of MSCI from $544.00 to $617.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an outperform rating and set a $638.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a report on Friday, April 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $562.87.

MSCI Price Performance

MSCI stock opened at $477.78 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.85 billion, a PE ratio of 32.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.06. The company’s 50-day moving average is $541.71 and its 200-day moving average is $537.78. MSCI has a fifty-two week low of $439.95 and a fifty-two week high of $617.39.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $3.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.44 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $680.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $685.47 million. MSCI had a net margin of 44.55% and a negative return on equity of 121.86%. MSCI’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.14 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that MSCI will post 14.59 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be issued a $1.60 dividend. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.69%.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Cd Baer Pettit bought 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 25th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $459.41 per share, for a total transaction of $3,445,575.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 291,038 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $133,705,767.58. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, COO Cd Baer Pettit bought 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 25th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $459.41 per share, for a total transaction of $3,445,575.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 291,038 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $133,705,767.58. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 13,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 25th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $465.92 per share, with a total value of $6,056,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 327,479 shares in the company, valued at approximately $152,579,015.68. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MSCI

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSCI. Optiver Holding B.V. acquired a new position in MSCI during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new position in MSCI during the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. ORG Partners LLC increased its position in MSCI by 5,600.0% during the 3rd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 57 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Headinvest LLC acquired a new position in MSCI during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, American National Bank increased its position in MSCI by 1,300.0% during the 4th quarter. American National Bank now owns 70 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is currently 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.