MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) Lifted to “Buy” at Redburn Atlantic

Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a report published on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have $680.00 price objective on the technology company’s stock.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of MSCI from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of MSCI from $615.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. They set an outperform rating and a $690.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an outperform rating and issued a $638.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on MSCI from $526.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $614.14.

MSCI Stock Performance

MSCI opened at $605.78 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $566.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $524.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.64 billion, a PE ratio of 40.57, a P/E/G ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.11. MSCI has a 52 week low of $439.95 and a 52 week high of $617.39.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The technology company reported $3.64 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.55 by $0.09. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 143.09% and a net margin of 43.86%. The business had revenue of $707.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $696.41 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.26 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 14.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that MSCI will post 14.8 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were given a dividend of $1.60 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.06%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.87%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MSCI

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Creative Planning lifted its stake in MSCI by 15.6% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 11,090 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $6,465,000 after acquiring an additional 1,499 shares during the last quarter. CX Institutional acquired a new stake in MSCI in the 3rd quarter valued at about $224,000. Grove Bank & Trust grew its holdings in MSCI by 52.4% during the third quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 3,779 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,203,000 after purchasing an additional 1,299 shares during the period. ORG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in MSCI during the third quarter worth about $432,000. Finally, Procyon Advisors LLC raised its stake in MSCI by 16.6% in the third quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 1,956 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,140,000 after buying an additional 279 shares during the period. 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.