MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) Shares Gap Down to $515.17

MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)’s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $515.17, but opened at $479.00. MSCI shares last traded at $461.47, with a volume of 378,794 shares.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded MSCI from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $613.00 to $569.00 in a report on Wednesday. Raymond James restated a “market perform” rating on shares of MSCI in a report on Friday, January 5th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on MSCI from $615.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on MSCI from $671.00 to $615.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, StockNews.com lowered MSCI from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $562.87.

MSCI Stock Up 4.2 %

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $545.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $538.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.06.

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

MSCI Announces Dividend

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MSCI

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MSCI. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of MSCI by 105.1% during the third quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 80 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC grew its holdings in MSCI by 6.7% during the third quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC now owns 561 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $288,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its holdings in MSCI by 348.7% during the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 341 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $175,000 after buying an additional 265 shares in the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC grew its holdings in MSCI by 4.5% during the third quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 669 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $343,000 after buying an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank grew its holdings in MSCI by 45.9% during the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 13,823 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $7,092,000 after buying an additional 4,346 shares in the last quarter. 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.