MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eleven have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $649.23.

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MSCI. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Wolfe Research raised MSCI from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group reduced their target price on MSCI from $695.00 to $680.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 2,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $612.80 per share, with a total value of $1,777,120.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 330,379 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $202,456,251.20. This trade represents a 0.89 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of MSCI

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Value Partners Investments Inc. grew its holdings in MSCI by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. now owns 4,285 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,569,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of MSCI by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 180,156 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $108,096,000 after acquiring an additional 4,381 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of MSCI by 3,881.3% in the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 419,429 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $251,662,000 after acquiring an additional 408,894 shares in the last quarter. Forum Financial Management LP lifted its position in shares of MSCI by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 553 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $332,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of MSCI in the fourth quarter valued at about $7,200,000. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:MSCI opened at $578.71 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $596.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $588.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.16, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.11. MSCI has a 12-month low of $439.95 and a 12-month high of $642.45.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.96 by $0.22. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 156.08% and a net margin of 38.83%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.68 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that MSCI will post 16.86 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $1.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.24%. This is a positive change from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. MSCI’s payout ratio is presently 51.21%.

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.