MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) Sees Strong Trading Volume

MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) shares saw unusually-high trading volume on Thursday . Approximately 649,913 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 45% from the previous session's volume of 449,257 shares.The stock last traded at $506.29 and had previously closed at $511.83.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSCI has been the subject of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $638.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a report on Friday, April 12th. Raymond James reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of MSCI in a report on Friday, January 5th. Oppenheimer cut their price target on MSCI from $659.00 to $648.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Barclays increased their price target on MSCI from $600.00 to $700.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on MSCI in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. They issued a "peer perform" rating for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $581.57.

MSCI Stock Down 1.3 %

The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $555.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $539.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.04 billion, a PE ratio of 34.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.06.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The technology company reported $3.68 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.29 by $0.39. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 111.17% and a net margin of 45.42%. The business had revenue of $690.11 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $662.64 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.84 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 19.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that MSCI Inc. will post 14.84 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 29th. Investors of record on Friday, February 16th were issued a $1.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. This is a positive change from MSCI's previous quarterly dividend of $1.38. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.27%. MSCI's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.44%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MSCI. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in MSCI in the third quarter valued at $434,000. Bleakley Financial Group LLC raised its stake in MSCI by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 2,340 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,324,000 after buying an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in MSCI by 19.2% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 218,623 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $124,786,000 after buying an additional 35,277 shares in the last quarter. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd raised its stake in MSCI by 3.0% in the third quarter. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd now owns 430,676 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $220,971,000 after buying an additional 12,495 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in MSCI by 13,659.5% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 10,182 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $5,759,000 after buying an additional 10,108 shares in the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is currently 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.