Brokerages Set MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) Target Price at $650.13

MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the eleven brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seven have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $650.1250.

Several brokerages have commented on MSCI. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $710.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of MSCI from $650.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on MSCI from $655.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $690.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised MSCI from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday.

MSCI Trading Up 0.8%

MSCI stock opened at $602.03 on Thursday. MSCI has a 1-year low of $486.73 and a 1-year high of $634.99. The firm has a market cap of $45.24 billion, a PE ratio of 38.15 and a beta of 1.30. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $567.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $564.99.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The technology company reported $4.47 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.37 by $0.10. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 110.94% and a net margin of 40.03%.The company had revenue of $793.43 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $794.87 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.86 earnings per share. MSCI’s revenue was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that MSCI will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 14th were given a dividend of $1.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 14th. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is 45.63%.

MSCI declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, October 28th that permits the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the technology company to buy up to 7.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 2,290 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $536.17 per share, for a total transaction of $1,227,829.30. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 335,069 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $179,653,945.73. This trade represents a 0.69% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Andrew C. Wiechmann sold 450 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $550.00, for a total transaction of $247,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 21,639 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,901,450. This represents a 2.04% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 3.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MSCI

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of MSCI. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. bought a new stake in MSCI during the third quarter worth about $27,000. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in MSCI in the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Steph & Co. acquired a new position in shares of MSCI during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Strategic Wealth Investment Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of MSCI during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, JPL Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About MSCI

MSCI Inc is a global provider of investment decision support tools and services for the financial industry. The company is best known for its family of market indexes, which are widely used as benchmarks by asset managers and as the basis for exchange-traded funds and other passive products. In addition to index construction and licensing, MSCI offers portfolio analytics, risk models, factor and performance attribution tools, and a suite of data and technology solutions designed to support portfolio management and trading.

Beyond traditional indexing and risk analytics, MSCI has expanded into environmental, social and governance (ESG) research and ratings, offering data, scores and screening tools that help investors integrate sustainability considerations into investment processes.