MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) PT Lowered to $615.00 at Morgan Stanley

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) had its price objective lowered by Morgan Stanley from $671.00 to $615.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the technology company’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also commented on MSCI. Raymond James reissued a market perform rating on shares of MSCI in a research report on Friday, January 5th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on MSCI in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. They issued a peer perform rating on the stock. Redburn Atlantic downgraded MSCI from a neutral rating to a sell rating and lowered their target price for the company from $620.00 to $470.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on MSCI from $615.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on MSCI from $544.00 to $617.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $562.87.

MSCI Trading Up 2.9 %

Shares of MSCI opened at $477.78 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.06. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $541.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $537.78. MSCI has a twelve month low of $439.95 and a twelve month high of $617.39.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $3.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $685.47 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.14 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 14.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that MSCI will post 14.59 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be issued a $1.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.34%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.69%.

Insider Transactions at MSCI

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MSCI

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSCI. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in MSCI by 105.1% in the third quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 80 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC lifted its position in MSCI by 6.7% in the third quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC now owns 561 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $288,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its position in MSCI by 348.7% in the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 341 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $175,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC lifted its position in MSCI by 4.5% in the third quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 669 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $343,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the period. Finally, Czech National Bank lifted its position in MSCI by 45.9% in the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 13,823 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $7,092,000 after purchasing an additional 4,346 shares during the period. 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.