Oppenheimer Reaffirms Market Perform Rating for MSCI (NYSE:MSCI)

Oppenheimer restated their market perform rating on shares of MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) in a report issued on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat reports.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of MSCI in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. They issued a peer perform rating on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of MSCI from a hold rating to a buy rating and cut their price target for the company from $613.00 to $569.00 in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of MSCI from $615.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of MSCI from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of MSCI from $600.00 to $700.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, MSCI has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $562.87.

MSCI Stock Up 2.9 %

Shares of MSCI stock opened at $477.78 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $541.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $537.78. MSCI has a 52 week low of $439.95 and a 52 week high of $617.39. The stock has a market cap of $37.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.61, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.06.

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

MSCI Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at MSCI

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MSCI

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its position in MSCI by 12.2% during the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 165 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $93,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Advisors LLC lifted its position in MSCI by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Legacy Advisors LLC now owns 664 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $376,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC lifted its position in MSCI by 23.5% during the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 100 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Balentine LLC lifted its position in MSCI by 3.6% during the third quarter. Balentine LLC now owns 572 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $293,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in MSCI by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,080 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,177,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

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.