MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) Lifted to Neutral at Bank of America

Bank of America upgraded shares of MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) from an underperform rating to a neutral rating in a report issued on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports. Bank of America currently has $525.00 price target on the technology company’s stock, up from their prior price target of $425.00.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on MSCI. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on MSCI from $671.00 to $615.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $600.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. StockNews.com cut shares of MSCI from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of MSCI from $615.00 to $526.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of MSCI in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. They issued a peer perform rating on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $569.53.

MSCI Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MSCI opened at $467.04 on Tuesday. MSCI has a one year low of $439.95 and a one year high of $617.39. The company has a market cap of $37.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.88, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.09. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $534.39 and a 200 day simple moving average of $536.42.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $3.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.44 by $0.08. MSCI had a net margin of 44.55% and a negative return on equity of 121.86%. The company had revenue of $680.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $685.47 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.14 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that MSCI will post 14.66 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid a $1.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.37%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.69%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Scott A. Crum sold 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $471.69, for a total transaction of $4,245,210.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 12,831 shares in the company, valued at $6,052,254.39. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Scott A. Crum sold 9,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $471.69, for a total value of $4,245,210.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,831 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,052,254.39. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 13,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $465.92 per share, for a total transaction of $6,056,960.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now 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 large investors have recently modified their holdings of MSCI. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its stake in MSCI by 12.2% during the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 165 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $93,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of MSCI by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Legacy Advisors LLC now owns 664 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $376,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of MSCI by 23.5% in the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 100 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Balentine LLC lifted its position in MSCI by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Balentine LLC now owns 572 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $293,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in MSCI by 1.0% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.