MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) Price Target Raised to $662.00

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) had its price target hoisted by Morgan Stanley from $640.00 to $662.00 in a research note published on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the technology company’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Barclays upped their target price on MSCI from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. UBS Group reduced their price target on MSCI from $695.00 to $680.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $638.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on MSCI from $526.00 to $590.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic upgraded MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $680.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $631.83.

MSCI Stock Up 1.2 %

MSCI opened at $577.95 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $580.21 and a 200 day moving average of $530.08. MSCI has a 52-week low of $439.95 and a 52-week high of $631.70. The stock has a market cap of $45.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.95, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 1.11.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The technology company reported $3.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.77 by $0.09. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 162.06% and a net margin of 43.06%. The company had revenue of $724.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $716.15 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.45 EPS. MSCI’s revenue was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that MSCI will post 14.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a $1.60 dividend. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.11%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.02%.

Institutional Trading of MSCI

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in shares of MSCI by 13.5% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 244 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $143,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc lifted its position in MSCI by 21.9% during the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 17,258 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $10,060,000 after buying an additional 3,104 shares in the last quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in MSCI during the third quarter worth approximately $232,000. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in MSCI by 27.9% during the third quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,667 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,138,000 after buying an additional 801 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Washington Trust Advisors Inc. lifted its position in MSCI by 27.7% during the third quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. now owns 383 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $223,000 after buying an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.