MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) Stock Rating Upgraded by Wolfe Research

Wolfe Research upgraded shares of MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) from a peer perform rating to an outperform rating in a report published on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Barclays raised their price target on MSCI from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of MSCI from $640.00 to $662.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $690.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group reduced their target price on MSCI from $695.00 to $680.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on MSCI from $570.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $634.58.

MSCI Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of MSCI stock opened at $633.50 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $49.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 1.10. MSCI has a twelve month low of $439.95 and a twelve month high of $642.45. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $599.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $553.33.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The technology company reported $3.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.77 by $0.09. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 162.06% and a net margin of 43.06%. The business had revenue of $724.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $716.15 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.45 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that MSCI will post 14.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were paid a $1.60 dividend. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is 42.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 2,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $612.80 per share, with a total value of $1,777,120.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 330,379 shares in the company, valued at $202,456,251.20. The trade was a 0.89 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MSCI

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSCI. Swedbank AB increased its position in shares of MSCI by 14.5% during the second quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 155,188 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $74,762,000 after acquiring an additional 19,660 shares in the last quarter. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. bought a new stake in MSCI during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,012,000. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in MSCI during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $390,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of MSCI by 274.1% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,212 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $584,000 after purchasing an additional 888 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in shares of MSCI in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,715,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.