MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Evercore ISI

Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) in a research report released on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage issued an outperform rating and a $690.00 price objective on the technology company’s stock.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an outperform rating and set a $638.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of MSCI from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Argus upped their price target on MSCI from $520.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of MSCI from $615.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on MSCI from $575.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MSCI has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $598.07.

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of MSCI stock opened at $589.72 on Wednesday. MSCI has a 1 year low of $439.95 and a 1 year high of $617.39. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $560.60 and a two-hundred day moving average of $523.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.72 billion, a PE ratio of 40.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.11.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The technology company reported $3.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.55 by $0.09. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 143.09% and a net margin of 43.86%. The company had revenue of $707.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $696.41 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.26 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that MSCI will post 14.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th were paid a $1.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.09%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.69%.

Institutional Trading of MSCI

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSCI. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in MSCI by 9.7% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 239,933 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $134,475,000 after buying an additional 21,310 shares in the last quarter. Grayhawk Investment Strategies Inc. acquired a new position in shares of MSCI during the 4th quarter worth about $959,000. Nomura Holdings Inc. bought a new stake in shares of MSCI in the 4th quarter valued at about $904,000. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,755,000. Finally, State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System boosted its stake in MSCI by 9.6% during the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 88,097 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $49,307,000 after acquiring an additional 7,718 shares during the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is 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.