MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) Upgraded by Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft to Buy

Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has $569.00 price target on the technology company’s stock, down from their previous price target of $613.00.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Raymond James restated a market perform rating on shares of MSCI in a research note on Friday, January 5th. Barclays upped their price objective on MSCI from $600.00 to $700.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on MSCI from $659.00 to $648.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on MSCI from $615.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on MSCI in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. They issued a peer perform rating on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $562.87.

MSCI Stock Up 4.2 %

Shares of MSCI stock opened at $464.81 on Wednesday. MSCI has a 12-month low of $439.95 and a 12-month high of $617.39. The stock has a market cap of $36.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.06. The business’s 50 day moving average is $545.76 and its 200-day moving average is $538.56.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 111.33% and a net margin of 44.55%. The company had revenue of $680.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $685.47 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.14 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 14.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that MSCI will post 14.81 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid a $1.60 dividend. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.38%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.69%.

Institutional Trading of MSCI

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of MSCI. Optiver Holding B.V. bought a new position in shares of MSCI during the third quarter worth about $26,000. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in MSCI during the first quarter worth approximately $26,000. ORG Partners LLC grew its stake in MSCI by 5,600.0% during the third quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 57 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. Headinvest LLC acquired a new stake in MSCI during the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, American National Bank grew its stake in MSCI by 1,300.0% during the fourth quarter. American National Bank now owns 70 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. 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.