MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) Price Target Cut to $600.00

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) had its target price decreased by Barclays from $700.00 to $600.00 in a report issued on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the technology company’s stock.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on MSCI. Redburn Atlantic downgraded MSCI from a neutral rating to a sell rating and lowered their target price for the company from $620.00 to $470.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Oppenheimer reiterated a market perform rating on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday. Raymond James reiterated a market perform rating on shares of MSCI in a research report on Friday, January 5th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on MSCI in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. They set a peer perform rating on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded MSCI from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, MSCI currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $562.87.

MSCI Price Performance

MSCI stock opened at $464.81 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $36.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.06. MSCI has a 1 year low of $439.95 and a 1 year high of $617.39. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $545.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $538.56.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $3.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.44 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $680.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $685.47 million. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 111.33% and a net margin of 44.55%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.14 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that MSCI will post 14.81 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid a dividend of $1.60 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.38%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is 43.69%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI in the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Optiver Holding B.V. purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. ORG Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 5,600.0% in the third quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 57 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. Headinvest LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, American National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 1,300.0% in the fourth quarter. American National Bank now owns 70 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

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.