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 note released on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft currently has $569.00 price objective on the technology company’s stock, down from their prior price objective of $613.00.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Raymond James reiterated a market perform rating on shares of MSCI in a report on Friday, January 5th. StockNews.com cut MSCI from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Wolfe Research began coverage on MSCI in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. They issued a peer perform rating for the company. Barclays increased their price objective on MSCI from $600.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an outperform rating and issued a $638.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $562.87.

MSCI Price Performance

MSCI opened at $464.81 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $545.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $538.56. MSCI has a 1 year low of $439.95 and a 1 year high of $617.39. The firm has a market cap of $36.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.73, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.06.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $3.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $680.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $685.47 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.14 EPS. MSCI’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that MSCI will post 14.81 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSCI. Optiver Holding B.V. bought a new stake in shares of MSCI in the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of MSCI in the 1st quarter worth $26,000. ORG Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of MSCI by 5,600.0% in the 3rd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 57 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Headinvest LLC bought a new stake in shares of MSCI in the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Finally, American National Bank increased its holdings in shares of MSCI by 1,300.0% in the 4th quarter. American National Bank now owns 70 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.