Morgan Stanley Increases MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) Price Target to $640.00

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) had its price target hoisted by Morgan Stanley from $615.00 to $640.00 in a report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the technology company’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on MSCI. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of MSCI from $575.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of MSCI from a neutral rating to a buy rating and set a $485.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 13th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of MSCI in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. They issued a peer perform rating on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated an outperform rating and set a $638.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated a market perform rating on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $591.21.

MSCI Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE MSCI opened at $540.55 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $495.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $524.45. MSCI has a 1 year low of $439.95 and a 1 year high of $617.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 1.10.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The technology company reported $3.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.55 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $707.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $696.41 million. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 143.09% and a net margin of 43.86%. MSCI’s quarterly revenue was up 14.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.26 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that MSCI will post 14.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th will be paid a dividend of $1.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 16th. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.18%. MSCI’s payout ratio is 43.69%.

Insider Transactions at MSCI

In related news, insider Scott A. Crum sold 9,000 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $471.69, for a total value of $4,245,210.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,831 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,052,254.39. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of MSCI

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of MSCI. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 0.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,719,381 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $4,886,777,000 after acquiring an additional 36,043 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its position in MSCI by 0.5% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,734,519 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $972,111,000 after buying an additional 9,304 shares in the last quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP grew its stake in shares of MSCI by 1.8% during the first quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP now owns 1,323,058 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $741,508,000 after buying an additional 23,217 shares during the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. increased its holdings in shares of MSCI by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 1,038,761 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $587,575,000 after buying an additional 44,234 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of MSCI in the 4th quarter valued at $496,541,000. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.