UBS Group Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) Stock

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) had its price objective raised by UBS Group from $655.00 to $700.00 in a report published on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the technology company's stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on MSCI. Barclays decreased their price target on MSCI from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on MSCI from $680.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on MSCI from $673.00 to $631.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Oppenheimer restated a "market perform" rating on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $675.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, MSCI currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $651.55.

MSCI Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of MSCI traded down $6.46 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $581.54. 540,977 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 510,013. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $562.24 and a two-hundred day moving average of $569.59. The stock has a market cap of $44.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.32. MSCI has a twelve month low of $486.74 and a twelve month high of $642.45.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The technology company reported $4.00 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.88 by $0.12. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 145.52% and a net margin of 39.08%. The business had revenue of $745.83 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $746.45 million. On average, equities analysts predict that MSCI will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th were issued a dividend of $1.80 per share. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. MSCI's payout ratio is presently 49.48%.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $552.59, for a total transaction of $2,762,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 289,787 shares in the company, valued at $160,133,398.33. This represents a 1.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 3.31% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB grew its holdings in shares of MSCI by 2.1% in the second quarter. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB now owns 4,653 shares of the technology company's stock worth $2,684,000 after acquiring an additional 94 shares during the period. Value Partners Investments Inc. grew its position in shares of MSCI by 6.1% during the second quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. now owns 4,402 shares of the technology company's stock worth $2,535,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. Kera Capital Partners Inc. bought a new stake in MSCI in the 2nd quarter valued at $280,000. AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs bought a new stake in shares of MSCI in the first quarter worth about $1,702,000. Finally, Strs Ohio bought a new stake in MSCI in the 1st quarter worth approximately $42,865,000. 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.