MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) Price Target Raised to $700.00

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) had its price target lifted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $680.00 to $700.00 in a research note released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the technology company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on MSCI. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of MSCI from $695.00 to $680.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Redburn Atlantic raised MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $680.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Wolfe Research raised MSCI from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $690.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on MSCI from $570.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MSCI presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $649.85.

MSCI Trading Up 0.3 %

MSCI opened at $614.58 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $604.61 and a 200 day moving average of $577.21. MSCI has a 12 month low of $439.95 and a 12 month high of $642.45. The firm has a market cap of $48.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 1.11.

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

MSCI Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were paid a $1.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.04%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.02%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 2,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $612.80 per share, for a total transaction of $1,777,120.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of MSCI

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of MSCI by 0.9% in the third quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 1,968 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,147,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC raised its position in MSCI by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 418 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $251,000 after buying an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp lifted its stake in MSCI by 35.1% during the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 77 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA lifted its stake in MSCI by 35.1% during the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 77 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Finally, Perigon Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 575 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $351,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

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.