MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• MSCI Inc has received a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from analysts, with ten buy ratings and three hold ratings out of thirteen covering analysts.
• The company's average 12-month price target is approximately $652.45, with several firms adjusting their price objectives upwards recently.
• MSCI declared a quarterly dividend of $1.80 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 1.2% and a dividend payout ratio of 47.68%.

MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) has received an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the thirteen analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $652.4545.

A number of equities analysts have commented on MSCI shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of MSCI from $625.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday. Raymond James Financial raised shares of MSCI from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $650.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, July 25th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of MSCI from $578.00 to $533.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of MSCI from $655.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th.

MSCI Stock Up 3.8%

Shares of NYSE MSCI opened at $584.45 on Friday. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $563.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $559.45. MSCI has a 52-week low of $486.73 and a 52-week high of $642.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.71, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 1.34.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The technology company reported $4.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.12 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $772.68 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $763.06 million. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 143.13% and a net margin of 39.46%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.64 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that MSCI will post 16.86 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th were issued a $1.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. MSCI's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.68%.

Insider Transactions at MSCI

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 9,916 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 24th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $544.70 per share, for a total transaction of $5,401,245.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,279,867 shares of the company's stock, valued at $697,143,554.90. This trade represents a 0.78% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In the last ninety days, insiders purchased 12,400 shares of company stock worth $6,731,599. Insiders own 3.31% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MSCI

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its position in shares of MSCI by 15.4% during the first quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 142 shares of the technology company's stock worth $80,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in MSCI by 16.0% during the 2nd quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 138 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the period. Optivise Advisory Services LLC grew its position in MSCI by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Optivise Advisory Services LLC now owns 540 shares of the technology company's stock worth $306,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in MSCI by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC now owns 361 shares of the technology company's stock worth $204,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gries Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of MSCI by 1.3% in the second quarter. Gries Financial LLC now owns 1,505 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $868,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. 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.

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