MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the thirteen research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and ten have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $654.73.

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of MSCI from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $650.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Bank of America started coverage on MSCI in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $585.00 price target on the stock. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. UBS Group upped their price objective on MSCI from $655.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on MSCI from $673.00 to $631.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd.

Insider Activity at MSCI

In related news, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The shares were 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 9,916 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 24th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $544.70 per share, with a total value of $5,401,245.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,279,867 shares in the company, valued at $697,143,554.90. This trade represents a 0.78% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders bought 12,400 shares of company stock worth $6,731,599 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 3.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of MSCI

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of MSCI. D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its holdings in MSCI by 9.9% in the 2nd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 1,025 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $591,000 after buying an additional 92 shares during the period. Wallace Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in MSCI by 3.4% in the second quarter. Wallace Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,667 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $943,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. boosted its holdings in MSCI by 10.2% in the second quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 356 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $205,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. boosted its holdings in MSCI by 2.5% in the second quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 30,650 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $17,677,000 after acquiring an additional 751 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC increased its position in MSCI by 70.8% during the 2nd quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 835 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $443,000 after purchasing an additional 346 shares during the period. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

MSCI Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of MSCI opened at $559.38 on Thursday. MSCI has a 12-month low of $486.73 and a 12-month high of $642.45. The company has a market cap of $43.27 billion, a PE ratio of 37.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 1.32. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $563.72 and a 200-day moving average price of $565.63.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The technology company reported $4.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.12 by $0.05. MSCI had a net margin of 39.46% and a negative return on equity of 143.13%. The business had revenue of $772.68 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $763.06 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.64 earnings per share. MSCI’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that MSCI will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.80 per share. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.68%.

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.