MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) has been given an average rating of “Hold” by the seventeen research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $562.87.

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on MSCI shares. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Redburn Atlantic lowered shares of MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $620.00 to $470.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of MSCI from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $613.00 to $569.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of MSCI from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of MSCI from $615.00 to $526.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 24th.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 13,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were bought at an average price of $465.92 per share, with a total value of $6,056,960.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 327,479 shares in the company, valued at $152,579,015.68. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 13,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 25th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $465.92 per share, with a total value of $6,056,960.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 327,479 shares in the company, valued at $152,579,015.68. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Cd Baer Pettit bought 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $459.41 per share, for a total transaction of $3,445,575.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 291,038 shares in the company, valued at approximately $133,705,767.58. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in MSCI during the fourth quarter valued at about $496,541,000. Impax Asset Management Group plc boosted its stake in MSCI by 803.9% in the fourth quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 587,978 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $331,906,000 after acquiring an additional 522,926 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in MSCI by 59.6% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 762,080 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $391,008,000 after purchasing an additional 284,513 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado increased its position in shares of MSCI by 3,600.0% during the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 253,636 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $143,469,000 after purchasing an additional 246,781 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of MSCI by 32.5% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 959,894 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $492,502,000 after purchasing an additional 235,290 shares in the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MSCI Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of MSCI stock opened at $476.76 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $37.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $539.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $537.69. MSCI has a 12 month low of $439.95 and a 12 month high of $617.39.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.44 by $0.08. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 121.86% and a net margin of 44.55%. The company had revenue of $680.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $685.47 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.14 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 14.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that MSCI will post 14.59 earnings per share 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 given a $1.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.34%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.69%.

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.