MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) Upgraded at The Goldman Sachs Group

The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Wednesday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage currently has $723.00 target price on the technology company’s stock, up from their prior target price of $617.00.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $638.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $680.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on MSCI from $570.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Evercore ISI started coverage on MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $690.00 price objective for the company. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $645.67.

MSCI Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MSCI opened at $604.80 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $600.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $558.22. MSCI has a 12-month low of $439.95 and a 12-month high of $642.45. The company has a market capitalization of $47.40 billion, a PE ratio of 39.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.10.

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

MSCI Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were issued a dividend of $1.60 per share. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. MSCI’s payout ratio is currently 42.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 2,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $612.80 per share, with a total value of $1,777,120.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 330,379 shares in the company, valued at approximately $202,456,251.20. This trade represents a 0.89 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. LRI Investments LLC lifted its position in MSCI by 120.0% during the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 44 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new position in shares of MSCI during the second quarter worth $26,000. HWG Holdings LP acquired a new position in shares of MSCI during the second quarter worth $27,000. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new position in shares of MSCI in the third quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in MSCI during the 3rd quarter valued at $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.