MSCI's (MSCI) Market Perform Rating Reiterated at Oppenheimer

Oppenheimer reaffirmed their market perform rating on shares of MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) in a report published on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat reports.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on MSCI. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised MSCI from a hold rating to a buy rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $613.00 to $569.00 in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on MSCI from $615.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Redburn Atlantic cut MSCI from a neutral rating to a sell rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $620.00 to $470.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of MSCI in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. They set a peer perform rating on the stock. Finally, Raymond James reiterated a market perform rating on shares of MSCI in a research report on Friday, January 5th. Three 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $562.87.

MSCI Price Performance

MSCI traded up $18.81 on Wednesday, reaching $464.81. 2,230,013 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 529,352. MSCI has a twelve month low of $439.95 and a twelve month high of $617.39. The stock has a market cap of $36.82 billion, a PE ratio of 32.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.06. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $547.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $539.08.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $3.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.44 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $680.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $685.47 million. MSCI had a net margin of 45.42% and a negative return on equity of 111.17%. MSCI's revenue was up 14.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.14 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that MSCI will post 14.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be issued a $1.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.38%. MSCI's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.44%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MSCI

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of MSCI in the 3rd quarter worth about $434,000. Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in MSCI by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 2,340 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,324,000 after buying an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in shares of MSCI by 19.2% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 218,623 shares of the technology company's stock worth $124,786,000 after acquiring an additional 35,277 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of MSCI by 13,659.5% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 10,182 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $5,759,000 after acquiring an additional 10,108 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd lifted its stake in MSCI by 3.0% during the third quarter. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd now owns 430,676 shares of the technology company's stock worth $220,971,000 after purchasing an additional 12,495 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company's stock.

About MSCI

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.