MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) Receives $642.63 Consensus Price Target from Analysts

MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, six have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $642.6250.

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays lifted their price objective on MSCI from $650.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. UBS Group lifted their price target on MSCI from $700.00 to $710.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on MSCI from $533.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of MSCI in a research report on Monday. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of MSCI to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st.

Insider Activity at MSCI

In other news, CFO Andrew C. Wiechmann sold 450 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $550.00, for a total value of $247,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 21,639 shares in the company, valued at $11,901,450. This trade represents a 2.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 10,210 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 5th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $536.13 per share, with a total value of $5,473,887.30. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,487,047 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $797,250,508.11. This represents a 0.69% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 3.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MSCI

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSCI. PineStone Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in MSCI by 11.9% in the second quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 890,123 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $513,370,000 after purchasing an additional 94,466 shares during the period. Katamaran Capital LLP acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI during the second quarter worth $1,806,000. Evelyn Partners Investment Management Services Ltd lifted its position in shares of MSCI by 158.9% in the 2nd quarter. Evelyn Partners Investment Management Services Ltd now owns 4,971 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,774,000 after buying an additional 3,051 shares during the last quarter. waypoint wealth counsel acquired a new position in shares of MSCI in the 2nd quarter valued at about $355,000. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 26.8% in the 2nd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 2,785 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,607,000 after buying an additional 588 shares during the period. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of MSCI opened at $580.79 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.81 and a beta of 1.32. MSCI has a 1 year low of $486.73 and a 1 year high of $634.99. The company’s fifty day moving average is $559.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $561.90.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The technology company reported $4.47 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.37 by $0.10. MSCI had a net margin of 40.03% and a negative return on equity of 110.94%. The company had revenue of $793.43 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $794.87 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.86 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that MSCI will post 16.86 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 28th. Investors of record on Friday, November 14th were issued a dividend of $1.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 14th. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. MSCI’s payout ratio is currently 45.63%.

MSCI announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, October 28th that permits the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the technology company to buy up to 7.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

About MSCI

MSCI Inc is a global provider of investment decision support tools and services for the financial industry. The company is best known for its family of market indexes, which are widely used as benchmarks by asset managers and as the basis for exchange-traded funds and other passive products. In addition to index construction and licensing, MSCI offers portfolio analytics, risk models, factor and performance attribution tools, and a suite of data and technology solutions designed to support portfolio management and trading.

Beyond traditional indexing and risk analytics, MSCI has expanded into environmental, social and governance (ESG) research and ratings, offering data, scores and screening tools that help investors integrate sustainability considerations into investment processes.