Brokerages Set MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Price Target at $578.21

MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the fifteen ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $581.57.

A number of brokerages recently commented on MSCI. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of MSCI from $615.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. StockNews.com cut shares of MSCI from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of MSCI in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on MSCI from $544.00 to $617.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered their target price on MSCI from $659.00 to $648.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday.

MSCI Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE:MSCI opened at $534.85 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $42.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.14, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 1.06. MSCI has a 12 month low of $451.55 and a 12 month high of $617.39. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $560.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $538.90.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The technology company reported $3.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.29 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $690.11 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $662.64 million. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 111.17% and a net margin of 45.42%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 19.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.84 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that MSCI will post 14.8 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 29th. Investors of record on Friday, February 16th were given a dividend of $1.60 per share. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.20%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. This is an increase from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.38. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is 44.44%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MSCI

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MSCI. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of MSCI in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $496,541,000. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in MSCI by 312.3% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 852,913 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $428,913,000 after purchasing an additional 646,050 shares in the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc boosted its stake in MSCI by 803.9% during the 4th quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 587,978 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $331,906,000 after purchasing an additional 522,926 shares during the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of MSCI by 254.1% during the third quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 469,660 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $240,973,000 after buying an additional 337,028 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of MSCI by 32.1% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,281,834 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $717,432,000 after buying an additional 311,370 shares during the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.