MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) Price Target Cut to $575.00

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) had its price target decreased by UBS Group from $700.00 to $575.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. UBS Group currently has a buy rating on the technology company’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also commented on MSCI. StockNews.com lowered MSCI from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Redburn Atlantic lowered 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 note on Tuesday, February 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on MSCI from $615.00 to $526.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded MSCI from a hold rating to a buy rating and lowered their target price for the company from $613.00 to $569.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on MSCI from $615.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Three investment 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $562.87.

MSCI Stock Up 4.2 %

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

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

MSCI Announces Dividend

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MSCI

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSCI. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in MSCI by 105.1% during the 3rd quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 80 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC increased its position in MSCI by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC now owns 561 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $288,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its position in MSCI by 348.7% during the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 341 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $175,000 after buying an additional 265 shares in the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC increased its position in MSCI by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 669 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $343,000 after buying an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank increased its position in MSCI by 45.9% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 13,823 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $7,092,000 after buying an additional 4,346 shares in the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.