MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) Price Target Raised to $662.00 at Morgan Stanley

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) had its target price increased by Morgan Stanley from $640.00 to $662.00 in a research note released on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the technology company’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on MSCI. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $638.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays lifted their price objective on MSCI from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. UBS Group dropped their target price on MSCI from $695.00 to $680.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted 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, Redburn Atlantic raised MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $680.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $624.23.

MSCI Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of MSCI stock opened at $569.35 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.78 billion, a PE ratio of 38.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.11. MSCI has a 12 month low of $439.95 and a 12 month high of $631.70. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $579.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $529.34.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $724.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $716.15 million. MSCI had a net margin of 43.86% and a negative return on equity of 143.09%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.45 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that MSCI will post 14.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a $1.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.12%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.87%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MSCI

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MSCI. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new position in MSCI in the second quarter worth about $26,000. HWG Holdings LP bought a new position in shares of MSCI in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of MSCI in the 1st quarter worth approximately $34,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of MSCI in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, American National Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of MSCI during the third quarter valued at approximately $58,000. 89.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.