Analysts Set MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Price Target at $631.83

Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $631.83.

MSCI has been the subject of several research reports. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $690.00 price objective for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of MSCI from $526.00 to $590.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Argus boosted their price target on shares of MSCI from $520.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $638.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $680.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 9th.

MSCI Trading Down 0.1 %

MSCI stock opened at $593.12 on Friday. MSCI has a 12 month low of $439.95 and a 12 month high of $631.70. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $584.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $539.21. The stock has a market cap of $46.48 billion, a PE ratio of 38.94, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.11.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The technology company reported $3.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.77 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $724.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $716.15 million. MSCI had a net margin of 43.06% and a negative return on equity of 162.06%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.45 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that MSCI will post 14.98 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a $1.60 dividend. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.02%.

Institutional Trading of MSCI

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. US Bancorp DE boosted its holdings in MSCI by 6.5% during the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 5,570 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,123,000 after buying an additional 341 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in MSCI by 302.6% during the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 5,306 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,974,000 after purchasing an additional 3,988 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in MSCI by 0.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,719,381 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,886,777,000 after purchasing an additional 36,043 shares in the last quarter. TIAA Trust National Association purchased a new position in MSCI during the first quarter valued at $212,000. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. lifted its holdings in MSCI by 455.8% during the first quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 5,614 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,146,000 after purchasing an additional 4,604 shares in the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.