MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, six have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $642.6250.

MSCI has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of MSCI in a research report on Monday, December 15th. UBS Group increased their target price on MSCI from $700.00 to $710.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Barclays lifted their price target on MSCI from $650.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on MSCI from $588.00 to $611.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on MSCI from $655.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th.

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of MSCI opened at $567.90 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.99 and a beta of 1.32. The company’s fifty day moving average is $557.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $561.76. MSCI has a 1 year low of $486.73 and a 1 year high of $634.99.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The technology company reported $4.47 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.37 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $793.43 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $794.87 million. MSCI had a net margin of 40.03% and a negative return on equity of 110.94%. The business’s revenue was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.86 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that MSCI will post 16.86 EPS for the current year.

MSCI announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, October 28th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the technology company to reacquire up to 7.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 28th. Investors of record on Friday, November 14th were issued a dividend of $1.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 14th. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. MSCI’s payout ratio is currently 45.63%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Andrew C. Wiechmann sold 450 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $550.00, for a total value of $247,500.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 21,639 shares in the company, valued at $11,901,450. This represents a 2.04% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Robert J. Gutowski sold 624 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $558.42, for a total value of $348,454.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 15,945 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,904,006.90. The trade was a 3.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 3.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of MSCI

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of MSCI by 1.7% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,674,093 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $5,489,177,000 after buying an additional 165,851 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in MSCI by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,320,761 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,884,233,000 after acquiring an additional 39,450 shares during the last quarter. Bamco Inc. NY increased its holdings in MSCI by 10.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 2,394,117 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,358,446,000 after acquiring an additional 223,784 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in MSCI by 1.8% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,993,524 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,146,298,000 after acquiring an additional 34,335 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in MSCI by 6.6% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,777,749 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,008,745,000 after acquiring an additional 109,287 shares during the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About MSCI

MSCI Inc is a global provider of investment decision support tools and services for the financial industry. The company is best known for its family of market indexes, which are widely used as benchmarks by asset managers and as the basis for exchange-traded funds and other passive products. In addition to index construction and licensing, MSCI offers portfolio analytics, risk models, factor and performance attribution tools, and a suite of data and technology solutions designed to support portfolio management and trading.

Beyond traditional indexing and risk analytics, MSCI has expanded into environmental, social and governance (ESG) research and ratings, offering data, scores and screening tools that help investors integrate sustainability considerations into investment processes.